FAQs - The ozone layer
Q. We used to hear all kinds of publicity about the hole in the ozone layer getting bigger and bigger. This was the cause of more sun-burning, warming of the seas, melting the polar ice caps, etc., and in Canada we were told the hole was right over us (I understand the same was said about Australia, and assume the same for the UK?)
Now we never hear the word mentioned. What happened to the ozone layer?
A. The ozone layer in the upper atmosphere – known as the stratosphere – protects us from the harmful effects of ultra violet rays from the sun. Since the 1970s, ozone levels have gradually fallen across much of the world, but by far the biggest losses are over the poles. These losses are caused by ozone-depleting gases, which are spread throughout the stratospheric ozone layer by atmospheric air motions.
The severe depletion of the Antarctic ozone layer, known as the “ozone hole”, occurs because of the special meteorological conditions that exist there, and ozone losses over the Arctic are less severe. The ozone layer is now starting to show signs of recovery.
This reflects a programme of international action to phase out the use of ozone-depleting substances under the Montreal Protocol.
Temporary low ozone events occasionally occur over the UK, usually during the autumn and as a result of dynamic changes in weather conditions.
Page last modified:
22 February 2008
Page published: 22 February 2008