Ozone hole is growing again

London, Sept 14: The gaping, man-made hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has hit record proportions for this time of year and could get bigger still within the next few days, a leading scientist said Friday. At just short of 10.81 million square miles, the hole is a fraction under the absolute record of 11 million, but it has historically peaked in the second week in September and therefore could theoretically grow further, British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientist Jonathan Shanklin said.

In 2002 the hole suddenly shrank, raising hopes it had turned the corner and was starting to close.

But Shanklin said scientists now believed this was an abnormality due to atmospheric conditions, and that the 2003 expansion was back to more normal activity.

"It was the largest it has ever been during August, and we are waiting to see what happens over the next few days," Shanklin said over telephone from BAS headquarters in Cambridge.
Bureau Report