Ozone hole over Antarctica grows again

Stratospheric levels of harmful CFCs will take between 40 and 100 years to dissipate and have only dropped a few per cent since reaching a peak in 2000, scientists warn

John Vidal
guardian.co.uk
Tuesday November 04 2008 11.20 GMT

The ozone hole over Antarctica grew to the size of North America this year – the fifth largest on record – according to the latest satellite observations.

US government scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say this year's ozone hole reached its maximum level on September 12, extending to 10.5m sq miles and four miles deep. That is bigger than 2007 but smaller than 2006, when the hole covered over 11.4m sq miles.