A huge ozone hole has been discovered in the tropics - and has existed since the 80s

 The ozone hole in the Antarctic is seven times the size and can be seen throughout the year.

Qing Bin Lu, a professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada, revealed a large hole in the ozone layer in the tropical region of the planet, which could affect 50 percent of the world's population, according to a press release.

Ozone is a highly reactive gas molecule consisting of three atoms of hydrogen. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ozone is formed in the stratosphere or higher levels of the Earth's atmosphere when sunlight interacts with molecular oxygen. Because it is highly reactive, ozone is constantly formed and destroyed in the stratosphere, and the total quantity has remained relatively stable over seasons and latitudes over the decades.

While the process of ozone formation and destruction continues in the atmosphere, the presence of certain chemicals can accelerate the destruction process. A single atom of chlorine in the stratosphere can take 100,000 molecules, severely depleting ozone levels.

Is there a real hole in the ozone layer?

Since the 1970s, scientists have found that ozone levels have been depleted in certain areas. When ozone levels drop by up to 80 percent of their natural values, the depleted area is called the ozone hole.

The ozone hole over Antarctica has been regularly seen during the spring season since the 1980s and is still monitored by organizations. Ozone loss was attributable to the use of chemicals such as CFCs, HFCs, CARBON 4chloride and methyl chloroform, which led to a ban on their use.

Last year, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) issued a report that the ban on these chemicals helps heal the ozone layer. However, the new discovery runs counter to what all scientists have known and achieved so far.

Ozone hole in tropical areas

In a research paper from one author published in the Journal of the American Institute of Physics (AIP), Lu spectacularly revealed that the ozone hole over the tropics is actually seven times larger than the ozone hole over Antarctica, which we have been concerned about over all these years. Worse still, the fact that the pit has existed since the 1980s.

Unlike the Antarctic hole that appears in spring, the aperture over the tropics is seen throughout the year. "Depletion of the ozone layer can increase UV radiation at ground level, which can increase the risk of skin cancer and cataracts in humans, as well as weaken human immune systems, reduce agricultural productivity, and adversely affect sensitive aquatic organisms and ecosystems," Lu said in a press release.

The fact that the tropics make up half of the planet's surface and is home to half of the world's population is very worrying. Describing it as a cause for "great global concern," Lu called for "careful studies on ozone depletion, UV change, increased cancer risk, and other negative effects on tropical health and ecosystems" in the press release.

Summary

This paper reveals a large ozone hole in all seasons in the lower stratosphere over the tropics (30 degrees north - 30 degrees south) that has existed since the 1980s, where the O3 hole is known as an area where the O3 has lost more than 25% compared to the pacific atmosphere. The depth of this tropical O3 hole can be compared to the depth of the well-known O3 hole in the spring at the South Pole, while its area is about seven times the area of the latter. Similar to the O3 hole in the South Pole, approximately 80% of the natural O3 value is depleted at the center of the tropical O3 hole. The results strongly suggest that both antarctic oxygen holes and orbiters must arise from an identical physical mechanism, where the cosmic-beamed electron reaction model shows good agreement with observations. 

 Furthermore, the presence of tropical and polar O3 holes is equivalent to the composition of three "temperature holes" observed in the stratosphere. These results will be important in understanding planetary physics, ozone depletion, climate change, and human health.