Record ozone hole over Arctic in March now closed: UN
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Ozone concentrations above the Arctic reached a record low for the month of March.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Follow topic:
GENEVA (REUTERS) - Ozone depletion over the Arctic hit a "record level" in March, the biggest since 2011, but the hole has now closed, the UN World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Friday (May 1).
The springtime phenomenon in the Northern Hemisphere was driven by ozone-depleting substances still in the atmosphere and a very cold winter in the stratosphere, WMO spokesman Clare Nullis told a UN briefing in Geneva.
"These two factors combined to give a very high level of depletion which was worse than we saw in 2011. It's now back to normal again... the ozone hole has closed," she said.
Ms Nullis, asked whether less pollution during the pandemic had played a role, said: "It was completely unrelated to Covid."
