A newer version of this visualization is available.
Ozonewatch 2015
Each year for the past few decades during the Southern Hemisphere spring, chemical reactions involving chlorine and bromine cause ozone in the southern polar region to be destroyed rapidly and severely. This depleted region is known as the “ozone hole.”
The area of the ozone hole is determined from a map of total column ozone. It is calculated from the area on the Earth that is enclosed by a line with a constant value of 220 Dobson Units (a unit of measure for total ozone.) The value of 220 Dobson Units is chosen since total ozone values of less than 220 Dobson Units were not found in the historic observations over Antarctica prior to 1979. Also, from direct measurements over Antarctica, a column ozone level of less than 220 Dobson Units is a result of the ozone loss from chlorine and bromine compounds.
This Hyperwall series shows the recent status of the ozone layer over the Antarctic, with a focus on the ozone hole. Satellite instruments monitor the ozone layer, and OzoneWatch uses their data to create the images that depict the amount of ozone.
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Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Scientist
- Paul Newman (NASA/GSFC)
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Technical support
- Marit Jentoft-Nilsen (None)
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ID: 30602 Hyperwall Visual
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Read moreOctober average minimum ozone over Antarctica || Ozone is Earth’s natural sunscreen, shielding life from dangerous solar ultraviolet radiation. Human-produced chemicals in our atmosphere—such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), used for many years as refrigerants and in aerosol spray cans—have depleted the Earth’s ozone layer. Scientists first recognized the potential for harmful effects of CFCs on ozone in the early 1970s. In the 1980s, governments around the world woke up to the destruction of the ozone layer and in 1987 negotiated the Montreal Protocol—an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by banning CFCs and similar ozone-depleting chemicals. Since the mid-1990s, global ozone levels have become relatively stable. In fact, because of the Montreal Protocol, model simulations suggest the size of the hole should return to its pre-1980 levels by about 2075. Here, the four globes show monthly-averaged total ozone over Antarctica in October. The 1971 and 2017 globes were created with data from NASA’s Nimbus-4 Backscatter Ultraviolet instrument and Aura’s Ozone Monitoring Instrument, respectively. The 2041 and 2076 globes were made using output from the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry-Climate Model, or GEOS-CCM. The graph shows each year’s October average minimum (white dots) over Antarctica. The red curve represents a smoothed version of the white dots. ||
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ID: 30844 Hyperwall Visual
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Read moreanimation of Antarctic ozone || Each year for the past few decades during the Southern Hemisphere spring, chemical reactions involving chlorine and bromine cause ozone in the southern polar region to be destroyed rapidly and severely. This depleted region is known as the “ozone hole.”The area of the ozone hole is determined from a map of total column ozone. It is calculated from the area on the Earth that is enclosed by a line with a constant value of 220 Dobson Units (a unit of measure for total ozone.) The value of 220 Dobson Units is chosen since total ozone values of less than 220 Dobson Units were not found in the historic observations over Antarctica prior to 1979. Also, from direct measurements over Antarctica, a column ozone level of less than 220 Dobson Units is a result of the ozone loss from chlorine and bromine compounds. ||
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ID: 30078 Hyperwall Visual
OzoneWatch 2014
Read moreEach year for the past few decades during the Southern Hemisphere spring, chemical reactions involving chlorine and bromine cause ozone in the southern polar region to be destroyed rapidly and severely. This depleted region is known as the “ozone hole”.The area of the ozone hole is determined from a map of total column ozone. It is calculated from the area on the Earth that is enclosed by a line with a constant value of 220 Dobson Units (a unit of measure for total ozone.) The value of 220 Dobson Units is chosen since total ozone values of less than 220 Dobson Units were not found in the historic observations over Antarctica prior to 1979. Also, from direct measurements over Antarctica, a column ozone level of less than 220 Dobson Units is a result of the ozone loss from chlorine and bromine compounds.This hyperwall-ready series shows the recent status of the ozone layer over the Antarctic, with a focus on the ozone hole. Satellite instruments monitor the ozone layer, and OzoneWatch uses their data to create the images that depict the amount of ozone. ||
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