|  The ozone layer is showing a 'progressive but slow recuperation' meaning that we will have to wait until about 2050 to see it reach levels similar to those before the 1980s, an outlook which is considerably more pessimistic in the Antarctic, where pre-80's levels won't be seen until 2060-2075 at the earliest.
The Spanish State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), part of the Environment Ministry, released this data to coincide with International Ozone Layer Protection Day today, which is being celebrated under the slogan 'Universal participation: Ozone protection unifies the world'.
The idea behind the initiative is to commemorate the signing of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, which had as its main objective the elimination of all substances that were harmful to the ozone in the atmosphere, specifically CFCs.
Although the Montreal Protocol has achieved its aim, these substances hang around in the atmosphere for a long time, so their effect lasts for many years, making the recovery of the ozone layer very slow.
Furthermore, more similar holes in the ozone layer are expected to appear over the next 20 years. The 2008 hole reached its maximum size on September 12th, when it was measured at 27 million km2, slightly bigger than the surface area of North America.
AEMET participates in the global monitoring of the ozone layer in real time via a network of spectrophotometers in A Coruņa, Madrid, Zaragoza, Murcia, Izaņa (Tenerife), Santa Cruz de Tenerife and El Arenosillo (Huelva) and weekly ozone soundings in Madrid and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. |
