Climate Control

Ozone Relief

arindam | 14 Feb, 2013

Once in a while, we do get good news about the environment.

Once in a while, we do get good news about the environment. According to new measurements made by the European Space Agency’s Envisat satellite, the hole in the ozone layer is shrinking. Since the 1980s, an ozone hole had formed in the atmosphere over Antarctica. It was said to have been caused by chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) compounds. Now that CFCs have been phased out, the hole seems to be healing. In 2012, say scientists, it was smaller than it has ever been in the recent past. But they caution that it will take a few decades before it can get back to its original self.