A “huge” ozone hole which was not expected to exist has been identified in the Earth’s atmosphere over almost the entire tropical region.
The hole is a year-round gap in the planet’s ozone layer, and is seven times larger than the better-known Antarctic ozone hole which opens up each year in spring
Professor Qing-Bin Lu, a scientist from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, said according to his research the hole has already been present for over 30 years and affects such a massive area that half of the world’s population could be affected.
He told The Independent: “Unlike the Antarctic ozone hole that only appears in the spring season, the tropical ozone hole appears in all seasons since the 1980s and its area is roughly seven times greater.
“[It] could cause a global concern as it can cause increases in ground-level UV radiation and associated risks of skin cancer and cataracts, and other negative effects on health and ecosystems in tropical regions.
He said there are already “preliminary reports showing that ozone depletion levels over equatorial regions are already endangering large populations therein and the associated UV radiation reaching the regions was far greater than expected.”
Speaking about finding the enormous area of depleted ozone, Professor Lu told The Independent: “It sounds unbelievable that the large tropical ozone hole was not discovered previously. But there exist some intrinsic challenges in making this discovery.
“First, no tropical ozone hole was expected to exist from the mainstream photochemical theory. Second, unlike the Antarctic/Arctic ozone holes that are seasonal and mainly appear in spring, the tropical ozone hole is essentially unchanged across the seasons and is therefore invisible in original observed data.”
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