Ozone layer hole reaches 26 million square kilometers
The hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic continent has reached one of its largest sizes this year.
AA
According to a statement from the European Space Agency, images captured on September 16 by the European Union's Earth atmosphere observation program, the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, showed that the width of the ozone hole over Antarctica has expanded to 26 million square kilometers.
The ozone hole, which varies in size from August to October and reaches its maximum extent between mid-September and mid-October, grew rapidly starting from mid-August this year, becoming one of the largest ozone holes recorded as early as mid-September.
A report published in January by the United Nations Environment Programme noted that the depleted ozone layer had begun to recover.
There is speculation that the rapid growth of the hole in the ozone layer may be linked to the eruption of the underwater volcano Tonga in January 2022.