▲ Ozone layer (red) air flowing from mid-latitude to the Arctic
The large ozone hole, eight times the size of the Korean Peninsula, was formed in the Arctic.
CNN broadcasts and live science media, citing the European Space Agency's Copernicus Air Monitoring Service (CAMS), which measures air quality change on the 28th (local time), reported that the ozone hole in the Arctic was finally closed.
The ozone hole is a phenomenon in which the ozone layer that blocks ultraviolet rays is destroyed by various pollutants, and it was the first time in 10 years that a large ozone hole was observed in the North Pole rather than the Antarctic.
In particular, the ozone hole in the Arctic, which was discovered late last month, grew to a size of 1.6 million ㎢ earlier this month.
This is about 8 times the total area of the Korean Peninsula (220,000 km2), the largest ever since the observation of the ozone layer in the Arctic in 1982.
However, the ozone hole in the North Pole was closed again as if it were the case.
However, the reason for the disappearance of the ozone hole was not related to the suspension of economic activity or changes in air quality caused by Corona19.
"The Arctic ozone hole is not closed because of human conscious activity," CAMS said. "The polar vortex (a strong low pressure mass rotating in the Antarctic and the upper North Pole) was created and disappeared." The.
According to CAMS last month, an unprecedented powerful vortex was formed in the North Pole, trapping pollutants over the North Pole, leading to the destruction of the ozone layer.
However, as the vortex weakened recently, mid-latitude air rich in ozone flowed into the North Pole, and the ozone hole naturally closed.
(Photo = CAMS Twitter capture, Yonhap News)