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Earth Science

The Largest Arctic Ozone Hole Ever Recorded is Now Closed (cbsnews.com) 47

Posted by msmash from the some-good-news dept.
Just as suddenly as it first formed, a record-breaking ozone hole has healed. The largest ozone hole to ever open up over the Arctic is now closed, after first opening up earlier this spring. From a report: Scientists monitoring the "unprecedented" hole at the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS) announced the closure last week. Despite coronavirus lockdowns leading to a significant reduction in air pollution, researchers said the pandemic likely was not the reason for the ozone hole closing. "Actually, COVID19 and the associated lockdowns probably had nothing to do with this," CAMS tweeted Sunday. "It's been driven by an unusually strong and long-lived polar vortex, and isn't related to air quality changes." Now that the intense polar vortex has ended, the ozone hole has closed. CAMS said Monday that it does not expect the same conditions to occur next year.
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The Largest Arctic Ozone Hole Ever Recorded is Now Closed More

The Largest Arctic Ozone Hole Ever Recorded is Now Closed

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  • Us? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by kackle ( 910159 ) on Friday May 01, 2020 @12:08PM (#60011308)
    So, our efforts are pointless, or...?

    • Re:Us? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Geoffrey.landis ( 926948 ) on Friday May 01, 2020 @12:18PM (#60011352) Homepage

      This particular ozone hole was an artifact of an unusual stable polar vortex. More details here: https://www.sciencealert.com/t... [sciencealert.com]

      As a long term thing, yes, CFCs result in thinning the ozone layer, most noticibly in the polar regions, but that's in the long term.

      It's like that thing people keep saying about weather is not climate.

      For good news, however, the CFC-related ozone depletion is mostly gone, as a result of finding substitutes for CFCs.

      • As a long term thing, yes, CFCs result in thinning the ozone layer

        But global warming works the other way. Warmer temperatures mean more stratospheric ozone, especially since the polar regions are warming much faster than the rest of the planet.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Cyberax ( 705495 )

          Warmer temperatures mean more stratospheric ozone

          Do you have a source for that? From all I know, ozone depletion is caused by CFCs catalyticly breaking down ozone before it can be regenerated. Since most of ozone is actually generated in the stratosphere, I kinda doubt that troposphere state should have any effect on this.

    • Re:Us? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by alvinrod ( 889928 ) on Friday May 01, 2020 @12:39PM (#60011440)
      No, our actions are not pointless or completely without consequence, but they're also not as impactful as we might like to think. I can't say that it's bad approach to consider ourselves more responsible than we actually are until we have a better understanding of the precise nature of the universe, but there can be consequences to overreactions as well. I'd just be more wary of people who try to use any of this as conclusive proof of a whatever worldview they've already been peddling for years and years. Anyone who starts with a conclusion and bends all evidence to explain it should be ignored.

    • So, our efforts are pointless, or...?

      What efforts?

      The hole was caused by natural phenomena that had very little to do with humanity.

      The hole closed for natural reasons that had little to do with humanity.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by kackle ( 910159 )
        I was thinking about the whole, expensive, annoying, R-22 replacement thing. Old car guys like me know this well.

        • Re:Us? (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Geoffrey.landis ( 926948 ) on Friday May 01, 2020 @03:27PM (#60012110) Homepage

          So, our efforts are pointless, or...?

          What efforts? The hole was caused by natural phenomena that had very little to do with humanity. The hole closed for natural reasons that had little to do with humanity.

          I was thinking about the whole, expensive, annoying, R-22 replacement thing. Old car guys like me know this well.

          And it worked. The press finds it grabs more eyeballs to write stories about things going wrong, but the story of learning that CFCs destroy the ozone layer, and the response to this, is a success story. We learned about a problem, we addressed it, and we solved the problem.

          It sells newspapers to talk about how humanity is always screwing up the planet, but possibly we should remember that sometimes we get it right. Horray for us!

          https://www.sciencealert.com/t... [sciencealert.com]

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by MrKaos ( 858439 )

            And it worked. The press finds it grabs more eyeballs to write stories about things going wrong, but the story of learning that CFCs destroy the ozone layer, and the response to this, is a success story. We learned about a problem, we addressed it, and we solved the problem.

            The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant [wikipedia.org] was the single biggest contributor of CFCs into the atmosphere globally and was shut down in 2013. Slowly the ozone layer has been recovering.

  • Lol, such low hanging fruit (Score:3)

    by Way Smarter Than You ( 6157664 ) on Friday May 01, 2020 @12:16PM (#60011344)
    Going to take a pass on this one. Way too easy.

  • We should have sent a spaceship there just in case the thing was a wormhole. I mean you never know. Ok, you might.

  • When I moved from the southern hemisphere to Canada, I had to chuck my chromatic glasses away and have new glasses made, since as soon as I went outside, they would turn pitch black, like welding goggles and then I could see nothing at all. My conclusion was that the ozone hole in the south was much over hyped.

  • So, if the ozone hole is gone, can we please start manufacturing R-22 refrigerant again? Us poor home homeowners who still run HVAC systems based on R-22 would greatly appreciate it. As it stands, buying a lb of R-22 is HUGELY expensive.

    I had my system accidently dump the full load of R-22 a few months ago due to a mistake while mowing the lawn. You wouldn't believe how much it cost to buy the 10 lbs of R-22 needed to recharge a perfectly good HVAC system (it was over a thousand dollars).

    The reason R-2

    • You wouldn't believe how much it cost to buy the 10 lbs of R-22 needed to recharge a perfectly good HVAC system (it was over a thousand dollars).

      Perhaps you should have invested the $1000+ in a new AC.

      • Perhaps you should have invested the $1000+ in a new AC.

        I have two AC units that use R22, installed in 2003. Along with the related furnace components I have about $7,000 of repairs due.

        Alternatively I can replace those systems for the tune of about $22K-$30K depending on which models and features we pick.

        $1K is not going to get you very far.

        • You can change the jet and use a different refrigerant without much of an issue. You could even use propane as a refrigerant if you have the appropriate jet size and propane really doesn't cost much (provided that you live somewhere south of Canada).

        • I have two AC units that use R22, installed in 2003.

          R22 was a known problem in 2003 and regulators were already discussing a ban. The phaseout started in 2004.

          Chlorodifluoromethane - Phaseout in the United States [wikipedia.org]

          • He probably got a discount on the units at the time since manufacturers and retailers knew they had to dump their inventories quickly. IIRC R-22 is more efficient so between the likely discounts and the energy savings over 17y, thatâ(TM)s probably covering the $1000.

      • You wouldn't believe how much it cost to buy the 10 lbs of R-22 needed to recharge a perfectly good HVAC system (it was over a thousand dollars).

        Perhaps you should have invested the $1000+ in a new AC.

        Right.. I considered that option, but I just didn't have the remaining $15K burning a hole in my pocket to replace a 10+ year old HVAC unit with one of the new high efficiency units that runs the new R-421A and because the unit is marginally sized (it barely keeps up now) I cannot retrofit it now and expect it to work.

        I am saving my spare change (and then some) to replace it sometime in the next few years. It is obvious to me that keeping this one in service is going to get really expensive sometime prett

    • Cue legions of idiots telling you to replace the entire thing, because you can just go to your backyard money tree and pick off $10,000.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Cyberax ( 705495 )
        You usually can retrofit an R-22 system and it's not even expensive. I did that with my AC (installed in 2010) and it involved replacement of a bunch of filters and seals, for the total cost of about $2000.

        Apparently the overall performance decreased by about 15% after the retrofit, so if you are somewhere in Hellscape states (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona) then it might not be cost-effective throughout the unit lifetime because of raised electricity cost.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by kackle ( 910159 )
        Indeed.

      • Yeah, idiot, how about you don't try to murder us all by ruining the planet because you selfish fuck can't be bothered by a little inconvenience cause by your kind being so retarded, you chose to live in a desert/swamp that is way too hot for humans with your genes?

        Of yor settlement decides to keep living there, then your governmemt better come up with a plan to finance environmentally neural ACs for everyone.
        Because if you don't, an AC won't help you fend of the the heat anymore, when we nuke your shithol

  • And The Economy (praise be upon thee) has bounced back, overshot for compensation, and stabilized at pre-pandemic levels.

    Wanna bet the hole will be right back?

  • We should be able to get it opened back up soon with better social distancing and disinfecting protocols in place.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Yeah, it's not like gases ever move around the atmosphere. They all sit in a big plume right where they are emitted, for ever.

      This "wind" is a hoax! Convection is a lie! Diffusion is fake news!

  • Bring back Freon!

  • Burn up every drop of oil and every ounce of coal in the next 30 yrs, earth will return to normal a few months later

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