What causes the ozone hole, and is it getting bigger?

Answer 1

Part of the problem is no one really knows exactly what is happening with the environment. If you listen to al gore and his people, the earth is warming, and it is all because of mankind.

The environmental movement touted this ozone hole in the late 1980's. they claimed that CFC (chlorofluorocarbons (sp)) were depleting the ozone. Now of course no one seems to realize that with a spinning globe, the centrifugal forces would pull ALL gasses towards the equator. And as such, anything at the poles of our planet will be thinner, or non existant.

Now maybe it is true... but this is what nasa says
The Incredible Shrinking Ozone Hole
After reaching record-breaking proportions earlier this year the ozone hole over Antarctica has made a surprisingly hasty retreat.

Link to story audioListen to this story (requires RealPlayer)

see captionDecember 12, 2000 -- After reaching a record-breaking size in mid-September, the ozone hole over Antarctica has made a surprisingly hasty retreat, disappearing completely by November 19, NASA scientists said.

The ozone hole waxes and wanes with the seasons every year, slowly vanishing as the Southern Hemisphere reaches the peak of its summer. But this year the hole closed up earlier than in recent years; for the last three years the hole has lingered on well into December, according to Dr. Richard McPeters, principal investigator for NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC

this is from USA today
The ozone hole is not really a "hole," but is a thinning of ozone. It's defined geographically as the area over which the total ozone amount is less than 220 Dobson Units (a measure of the total ozone above a location). The normal Dobson unit reading over Antarctica is around 275.
The ozone hole forms over Antarctica each year at the end of winter and in some years over the Arctic. This is caused by unique conditions in the extremely frigid atmosphere above the poles.
As winter darkness begins closing in on Antarctica in March and the atmosphere cools, high-altitude winds begin blowing around Antarctica, forming a polar vortex that does not allow air from the north to flow over Antarctica.

Over the winter, unique polar stratospheric clouds form in the "container" created by the polar vortex. Both ozone and ozone-destroying substances are parts of these clouds. When the sun begins returning in September, sunlight begins supplying energy needed for the chemical reactions that destroy ozone, and the hole begins forming.

The clouds act as chemical converters, changing chemicals derived from human emissions at the surface into chemicals that destroy large amounts of ozone when sun rises in the spring.

As spring turns to summer above Antarctica, the polar vortex breaks up and ozone-rich air begins flowing in from the north. The polar stratospheric clouds evaporate and the air from the north begins replenishing ozone over Antarctica. The hole disappears in late November or December.

Answer 2

1.What causes the ozone hole? We earthlings have damaged the ozone layer with chemicals (called chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs) that are used in refrigerators and air conditioners. This has been proved by a long series of measurements from space and on the ground. In fact, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to three atmospheric scientists for having discovered and explained this link. 2.Is the ozone hole getting bigger? It isn't really a "hole", but a large decrease in the total amount of ozone overhead. It is truly a large decrease over Antarctica at certain times of the year, but there are significant general reductions in ozone elsewhere, including the Northern Hemisphere. The "hole" and the general reductions elsewhere are not getting better yet. We expect that things will improve, starting early in the next century.

Answer 3

Stratospheric ozone absorbs most harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun in Earth's stratosphere, the slice of atmosphere from 6 to 30 miles (10 to 50 kilometers) above the surface. Only a fraction of the most dangerous ultraviolet rays, or UV-B, reach Earth's surface. People have damaged the ozone layer with the chemicals (called chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs) used in some appliances and machinery. Between 1978 and 1993, the Environmental Protection Agency gradually introduced rules that phased out CFC use in aerosol sprays, refrigerators and other appliances, and industrial processes. While still apparent, the damage to the ozone layer isn't really a "hole" but a significant loss in the total amount of ozone overhead. While there is no definitive evidence that ozone levels are declining further on the whole, scientists caution that we have not yet managed to restore healthy levels, either.

Answer 4

The ozone hole happens when ozone molecules high in the atmosphere are broken apart and the pieces form oxygen molecules. The ozone layer becomes thinner, and this is called the ozone hole.

The main cause of O3 getting changed to O2 is the presence of CFCs in the upper atmosphere. The chlorine from CFCs breaks the O3 (ozone), and one chlorine can just break molecule after molecule after molecule for a long, long time. I think it's like a hammer - just hammer one nail after another, but the hammer is still ready to hammer something else. It isn't worn out or used up.


The ozone hole changes during different seasons - gets larger and then gets into better shape again. The problem is actually not as bad as it has been in some past years.

Answer 5

Ozone is a form of oxygen.It is naturally present in the stratosphere as a shield around the earth and it functions as an effective screen for ultra violet rays coming from the sun.The major cause of the ozone hole is the release of man - made chlorine compounds,epecially chloro - fluro carbons (CFCs) which is used in refrigerators.

Answer 6

The various forms of pollutions are creating it. The release of dangerous gases from the chemicals are disposed in the atmosphere.

The USA is the top listed country to release the dangerous gases. Even the president is unable to control it.

The ozone is the safety layer that protects the earth from infrared rays released by sun. Until the usage of dangerous chemicals are reduced, the safety to the earth is a question mark only.

Answer 7

Ozone is an isotope of oxygen. In stratosphera it protects us from UV rays. It has 3 atoms, and the oxygen we bread has 2 atoms. Emisions of halogens (F,Cl...) destroy ozone, because they destroy connections between atoms in ozone.
And yes, the hole is getting bigger, and it is the biggest above Antarctica (South pole)

Answer 8

rhe large amount of harmful gases coming from industries from chimneys goes to atmosphere and causes ozone hole

Answer 9

chcf gas caused it.yeap it is growing day by day.

Answer 10

increase in technology and modernalisation

just in a line.