Meteorological Technology International
  • News
    • A-E
      • Agriculture
      • Automated Weather Stations
      • Aviation
      • Climate Measurement
      • Data
      • Developing Countries
      • Digital Applications
      • Early Warning Systems
      • Extreme Weather
    • G-P
      • Hydrology
      • Lidar
      • Lightning Detection
      • New Appointments
      • Nowcasting
      • Numerical Weather Prediction
      • Polar Weather
    • R-S
      • Radar
      • Rainfall
      • Remote Sensing
      • Renewable Energy
      • Satellites
      • Solar
      • Space Weather
      • Supercomputers
    • T-Z
      • Training
      • Transport
      • Weather Instruments
      • Wind
      • World Meteorological Organization
      • Meteorological Technology World Expo
  • Features
  • Online Magazines
    • April 2025
    • January 2025
    • September 2024
    • April 2024
    • Archive Issues
    • Subscribe Free!
  • Opinion
  • Videos
  • Supplier Spotlight
  • Expo
LinkedIn Twitter Facebook
  • Sign-up for Free Weekly E-Newsletter
  • Meet the Editors
  • Contact Us
  • Media Pack
LinkedIn Facebook
Subscribe
Meteorological Technology International
  • News
      • Agriculture
      • Automated Weather Stations
      • Aviation
      • Climate Measurement
      • Data
      • Developing Countries
      • Digital Applications
      • Early Warning Systems
      • Extreme Weather
      • Hydrology
      • Lidar
      • Lightning Detection
      • New Appointments
      • Nowcasting
      • Numerical Weather Prediction
      • Polar Weather
      • Radar
      • Rainfall
      • Remote Sensing
      • Renewable Energy
      • Satellites
      • Solar
      • Space Weather
      • Supercomputers
      • Training
      • Transport
      • Weather Instruments
      • Wind
      • World Meteorological Organization
      • Meteorological Technology World Expo
  • Features
  • Online Magazines
    1. April 2025
    2. January 2025
    3. September 2024
    4. April 2024
    5. January 2024
    6. September 2023
    7. April 2023
    8. Archive Issues
    9. Subscribe Free!
    Featured
    April 15, 2025

    In this Issue – April 2025

    By Web TeamApril 15, 2025
    Recent

    In this Issue – April 2025

    April 15, 2025

    In this Issue – January 2025

    December 13, 2024

    In this Issue – September 2024

    August 8, 2024
  • Opinion
  • Videos
  • Supplier Spotlight
  • Expo
Facebook LinkedIn
Subscribe
Meteorological Technology International
Climate Measurement

Ozone hole deepest and largest in recent years

Lawrence ButcherBy Lawrence ButcherOctober 9, 20203 Mins Read
Share LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Email
Share
LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Email

According to the WMO, the annually occurring ozone hole over the Antarctic is one of the largest and deepest in recent years.

Analyses show that the hole has reached its maximum size. The 2020 ozone hole grew rapidly from mid-August and peaked at around 24,000,000km2  in early October.  It now covers 23,000,000km2 , above average for the last decade and spreading over most of the Antarctic continent.

The WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch program works closely with Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service, NASA, Environment and Climate Change Canada and other partners to monitor the Earth’s ozone layer, which protects us from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun.

“There is much variability in how far ozone hole events develop each year. The 2020 ozone hole resembles the one from 2018, which also was a quite large hole, and is definitely in the upper part of the pack of the last 15 years or so”, Vincent-Henri Peuch, director of Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service at ECMWF, said.

“With the sunlight returning to the South Pole in the last weeks, we saw continued ozone depletion over the area. After the unusually small and short-lived ozone hole in 2019, which was driven by special meteorological conditions, we are registering a rather large one again this year, which confirms that we need to continue enforcing the Montreal Protocol banning emissions of ozone depleting chemicals,” he added.

The WMO notes that the large ozone hole in 2020 has been driven by a strong, stable and cold polar vortex, which kept the temperature of the ozone layer over Antarctica consistently cold. Ozone depletion is directly related to the temperature in the stratosphere, which is the layer of the atmosphere between around 10km and round 50km altitude. This is because polar stratospheric clouds, which have an important role in the chemical destruction of ozone, only form at temperatures below -78°C.

These polar stratospheric clouds contain ice crystals that can turn non-reactive compounds into reactive ones, which can then rapidly destroy ozone as soon as light from the sun becomes available to start the chemical reactions. This dependency on polar stratospheric clouds and solar radiation is the main reason the ozone hole is only seen in late winter/early spring.

Stratospheric ozone concentrations have been observed to have reduced to near-zero values over Antarctica around 20km to 25km of altitude (50-100hPa), with the ozone layer depth coming just below 100 Dobson Units, about a third of its typical value outside of ozone hole events.

During the southern hemisphere spring season (August-October) the ozone hole over the Antarctic increases in size, reaching a maximum between mid-September and mid-October. When temperatures high up in the atmosphere (stratosphere) start to rise in late southern hemisphere spring, ozone depletion slows, the polar vortex weakens and finally breaks down, and by the end of December ozone levels have returned to normal.

Previous ArticleNOAA awards project funding
Next Article September warmest on record

Read Similar Stories

Climate Measurement

WMO and Beijing Climate Centre host climate monitoring and prediction forum in Qingdao

May 16, 20252 Mins Read
Hydrology

Integrated model improves flood risk assessment in China

May 15, 20253 Mins Read
Climate Measurement

WMO releases State of the Climate in Africa 2024 report

May 12, 20255 Mins Read
Latest News

NSF NCAR begins largest US hail study in 40 years

May 19, 2025

WMO and Beijing Climate Centre host climate monitoring and prediction forum in Qingdao

May 16, 2025

Integrated model improves flood risk assessment in China

May 15, 2025

Receive breaking stories and features in your inbox each week, for free


Enter your email address:


Supplier Spotlights
  • Kestrel Instruments
Latest Job Postings
  • Researcher/Engineer to support data-based weather forecasting (R2/RE2)

    • Barcelona
    • Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación
    • Full Time
Getting in Touch
  • Contact Us / Advertise
  • Meet the Editors
  • Download Media Pack
  • Free Weekly E-Newsletter
Our Social Channels
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
© 2025 UKi Media & Events a division of UKIP Media & Events Ltd
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Notice and Takedown Policy

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the ...
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.

CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Functional

Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.

Performance

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Analytics

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

Advertisement

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.

Others

Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.

SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by