Is the ozone really recovering? According to scientist Murry Salby of Macquarie University in Sydney, he and his team found that the signal of ozone began rising. This started occurring after 1996, Salby concluded. This recovery is taking place a decade earlier than the scientists predicted. The scientists and researchers predicted that the ozone’s recovery would be detected by 2023. However, Salby and his team claim that the ozone hole has recovered since the late 1990s.To being with, the ozone hole was first noticed in 1985. This is the ozone hole over Antarctica (not to be confused with the ozone hole over the North Pole). This breach in the ozone layer was created by the CFCs or chlorofluorocarbons which were emitted from the factories during the Industrial Revolution. Furthermore, these harmful chemicals were mostly created in the Northern Hemisphere, but travelled to the Southern Hemisphere due to the Earth’s natural patterns. These chemicals then started depleting the ozone layer which protects us from the Ultraviolet Rays.
Though Salby believes that the ozone had recovered since the 1990s, other scientists are not convinced. For example: Darryn Waugh, an atmospheric scientist at Johns Hopkins University, believes that the the depletion in the ozone should have reduced, but actual proof of the ozone recovering is going to need a few more years of statistical data. Moreover, other scientists believe that this is "bold claim" (Atmospheric chemist Paul Young). Though Salby seems confident, it is not sure if his claim is valid.
Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/access/id/74281/name/aw_Ozone-hole-on-24Sept2006-CREDIT-NASA.jpg
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