2006-09-01 11:21:34 · 10 answers · asked by Lleh 6 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
It got smaller (and continues to get smaller) because a group of pragmatic politicians agreed to take real legislative action to stop producing the chemicals that caused it.
These politicians, who included Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, met in Montreal, Canada in 1987. They heard the scientific facts behind ozone depletion and the probable consequences for humanity, then they put ideology aside and did the right thing. The result - called the 'Montreal Protocol' - literaly saved the earth from losing its shield from radiation.
Those people were real leaders, with real courage, and we owe them gratitude for what they did in Montreal. We need similar leaders with similar courage today to address the causes of human-induced global warming. Unfortunately the current administration in the United States are not such people. They will be eternaly shamed by history for their willfull ignorance and callousness to consequences.
But the Montreal Protocol shows what can be done..
2006-09-01 11:59:45 · answer #1 · answered by David C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most people don't ever mention that the winds current trap and concentrate the CFCs over the southern pole. These wind currents never permit a warm front from moving over the antarctic. That is also why Antarctic is the coldest place on earth and why the ozone hole is there and not at the north pole. The winds exist because there is an ocean completely around the continent. Any sailor knows about the cold current that completely circles that continent and its cold wind.
Regardless, the ozone is starting to repair because of the international tready on CFCs. It is projected to take until 2050 to completely repair itself. But it would not expand beyond the Antarctic because of being trapped by the winds.
2006-09-01 20:34:12 · answer #2 · answered by Alan Turing 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The destruction of ozone in the upper atmosphere is a complex chemical process that uses pollutant chemicals such as CFCs as a catalyst.
I believe cold temperatures, wind, and tiny ice crystals are all required for the ozone depletion to occur. These conditions occur from time to time (usually over the poles), but are not very common in general. So there are shorter times of rapid ozone depletion and longer times of slow ozone replenishment. The ozone situation can change a great deal from year to year.
2006-09-01 22:01:41 · answer #3 · answered by Tom H 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The ozone layer gets smaller day by day because of the UV rays of sun and also probably the air pollution.
2006-09-01 18:27:32 · answer #4 · answered by knowbuddycares 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ozone does replenish itself slowly over time. Since we stopped producing CFCs, it started to regenerate. It will take until at least 2050 to close though.
2006-09-01 18:27:45 · answer #5 · answered by zandyandi 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It shrank in 2002 due to unusual weather patterns, but expanded again in 2003 according to the article at this link:
http://www.theozonehole.com/fact.htm
2006-09-01 18:29:24 · answer #6 · answered by ecmfw 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pollution.
2006-09-01 18:26:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
There's been a ban on chloroflourocarbons in the USA for a while now.
2006-09-01 18:26:38 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
cause you dont have nothing better to do so u stay stuck looking at it everyday your so smarty
2006-09-01 18:28:46 · answer #9 · answered by PACKZ.... 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
WHere did you hear that???
2006-09-01 18:27:32 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋