By NOAA Communications The hole in the ozone layer—the portion of the stratosphere that protects our planet from the Sun’s ultraviolet rays—is continuing to decrease, scientists from NOAA and NASA reported today. This year’s ozone hole over Antarctica had an average area of 8.91 million square miles (23.2 million square kilometers), slightly smaller than the extent of 8.99… Read More

By Patrick Cullis, CIRES and NOAA scientist At the ozonesonde lab in Boulder, Colorado, part of NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory, scientists prepare and launch ozonesondes to over 100,000 feet to directly measure Earth’s protective ozone layer. The researchers also ship supplies from the Boulder lab to NOAA’s Baseline Observatory at the South Pole, so technicians… Read More

By Patrick Cullis, CIRES and NOAA scientist NOAA techs Bailey Nordin and Will Skorski have spent the past year living and working at the South Pole. One of their regular tasks is to release high-altitude balloons carrying instruments that measure ozone levels in Earth’s protective ozone layer high above Antarctica. The typical rubber meteorological balloons… Read More

By Patrick Cullis, CIRES and NOAA scientist Every year in September, as the Sun returns to the sky above the South Pole after six months of darkness, a chemical reaction happens high in our atmosphere as human activity combines with natural phenomena to destroy part of our protective ozone layer. In the last episode of… Read More

By Patrick Cullis, CIRES and NOAA scientist In Part 3 of this animated series, Casper and Peggy head to the very bottom of the Earth to visit the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, where NOAA scientists take critical measurements of our atmosphere far from the effects of human activity. Join them as they explore this incredible… Read More

By Patrick Cullis, CIRES and NOAA scientist Continue the ozone adventure with Casper and Peggy in this animated series exploring our atmosphere and the important role ozone plays in protecting all life on Earth. Part 2 covers the ozone layer and how it protects life on our planet from the Sun’s harmful effects! Video by… Read More

By Patrick Cullis, CIRES and NOAA scientist As we track this year’s formation of the annual ozone hole above Antarctica, join Casper and Peggy in this four-part animated series as they explore our atmosphere and learn about the important role ozone plays in protecting all life on Earth. Part 1 covers ozone in the atmosphere… Read More

By Patrick Cullis, CIRES and NOAA scientist After six straight months of darkness, the Sun has finally returned to the sky above the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. NOAA scientists working at the station and collecting air samples at the Atmospheric Research Observatory (ARO) experience only one sunrise and one sunset per year due to the unique… Read More

By Irina Petropavlovskikh, Secretary of the International Ozone Commission and a CIRES and NOAA scientist  September 16 is the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, celebrating the 35th signing anniversary of the 1987 Montreal Protocol treaty on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.  We would like to report success in the reduction of the ozone-depleting… Read More

By NOAA Communications The 2021 Antarctic ozone hole reached its maximum area on October 7 and ranks 13th largest since 1979, scientists from NOAA and NASA reported today. This year’s ozone hole developed similarly to last year’s: A colder-than-usual Southern Hemisphere winter led to a deep and larger-than-average hole that will likely persist into November… Read More