People were scared and thought this could be a real disaster that could kill us, give us cancer… it had a huge impact on people. – Pawan Bhartia
The ozone hole is something that has been a hot topic for quite a few years now. News covered it, politicians talked about it, scientists released reports, the public was concerned with global warming – all of this is because of a depleted region in the Southern Hemisphere, over the polar region (Ozone hole watch, n.d.). I know that a hole can seem kind of scary, and it certainly was when the media first began to cover it. However, it is important to look at the scientific facts dealing with the “hole.”
First off, the ozone itself is a colorless gas, it is extremely chemically active, and absorbs ultraviolet B rays from sunlight (Ozone hole watch, n.d.). The gas sits in a layer above the Earth and is what protects the Earth and all living things from the harmful rays of sunlight (Ozone hole watch, n.d.). Scientists first started studying the ozone in 1970, simply wanting to find out more. October 1978 was when the discovery that CFCs could destroy the ozone happened (Hansen, K., 2012). CFCs are the gas that was used in pretty much everything – spray cans, air conditioners, refrigerators, anything. The non-toxic gas has an extremely long lifespan and after some time, gets up into the atmosphere and decimates the ozone layer (Hansen, K., 2012).
Scientists began scrambling to figure out what was going on in the ozone and in 1984, they found out. The ozone hole appeared on their radars, after just hints were seen in 1981 (Hansen, K., 2012). After doing several studies to confirm what they had seen, British Antarctic Survey scientists reported the findings in May 1985 (Hansen, K., 2012).
In August 1985, Pawan Bhartia, an atmospheric scientist who was a part of NASA’s Ozone Processing Team, presented the finding at a conference in Prague (Hansen, K., 2012). From there, the 1987 Montreal Protocol treaty was set in stone. This treaty was a part of an international agreement to phase out substances that destroy’s the Earth’s ozone layer (Hansen, K., 2012).
Scientists have found out that the certain types of human-produced gases are what is causing ozone depletion and that reason the hole has occurred over the polar region is because of ice cloud chemistry (Hansen, K., 2012). CFCs were quickly regulated – which is a good thing because if they hadn’t been, ice cloud chemistry could have happened anywhere with a sufficient amount of CFCs, including North America (Hansen, K., 2012).
Thankfully, the Arctic hole is stabilized now and maybe even on the road to recovery (Hansen, K., 2012).
However, people will still look at the satellite pictures and make it into a big deal, when it isn’t quite so much anymore. As long as we continue to be conscious about what we’re releasing into the air, the ozone will continue on the track it’s meant to have.
The media has a huge role in causing people to overreact. The following clips are from articles written by CNN, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and USA Today. (All of these articles are from 2005 till 2013.)
As you can read, the media likes to use words that will frighten you into thinking things are in fact worse. Of course, there are other media outlets besides newspapers, but even TV shows like The Daily Show make the ozone hole seem crazy. The Daily Show
The truth is, the ozone layer is something that we once had to be concerned about and while we still do, it’s now in the sense that we need to just be aware that everything we do has an effect on our environment, including the climate.
The following is a link to NASA’s ozone hole watch, where they update every day what the ozone currently looks like. It is extremely interesting and I recommend everyone to look at it at least once. Know what your Earth looks like. Ozone Hole Watch
Sources –
Hansen, K [n.d.]. Discovering the ozone hole: Q&A with Pawan Bhartia. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved from http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/bhartia-qa.html
National Aeronautics and Space Administration [n.d.]. Ozone hole watch. Retrieved from http://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. (2000, Oct. 5) Other news – shut your skyhole. Retrieved from http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-october-5-2000/other-news—shut-your-skyhole
Petkov, B.H., Vitale, V., Tomasi, C., Siani, A. M., Sechkmeyer, G., & Vanicek, K. (March 2014). Response of the ozone column over Europe to the 2011 Arctic ozone depletion event according to ground-based observations and assessment of the consequent variations in surface UV irradiance. Atmospheric Environment (Vol. 85). Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.www2.lib.ku.edu:2048/science/article/pii/S135223101300931X
Foster, J. M. (2013, Feb. 1). The Enduring effects of ozone depletion. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/from-ozone-depletion-enduring-effects/
Fountain, H. (2013, July 26) Storms threaten ozone layer over U.S, study says. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/from-ozone-depletion-enduring-effects/
Grenoble, R. (2013, Dec. 13). Hole in ozone layer expected to make full recovery by 2070: NASA. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/13/hole-ozone-layer-recovery-2070_n_4441460.html
Geneva. (2011, April 5). Ozone layer faces record loss over Arctic. USA Today. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/environment/2011-04-05-ozone-arctic_N.htm
Vitello, P. (2013, May 18). Joseph Farman, 82 is dead; Discovered ozone hole. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/science/earth/joseph-farman-82-is-dead-discovered-ozone-hole.html
Geneva. (2011, April 5). Ozone layer faces record loss over Arctic. USA Today. Retrieed from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/environment/2011-04-05-ozone-arctic_N.htm
Walton, M. (2005, Sept. 2) Ozone layer making a recovery. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/09/02/ozonerecovery/index.html?eref=sitesearch
Image source –
Green Global 