Ozone hole bigger than North America opens above Antarctica in shocking video

The European Space Agency has released a shocking video demonstrating how a hole bigger than North America grew above Antarctica.

The ozone hole, which scientists refer to as an 'ozone depleting area', was determined to be one of the biggest on record when measured by the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite this year.

Simulated footage shared by the agency shows the hole widening to reveal all of Antarctica in the weeks between 19 August and 24 September.

It's normal for the size of the ozone hole to fluctuate and increase in size between August and October, with the hole usually reaching its maximum between mid-September and mid-October.

However, Antje Inness, senior scientist at Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, noted that these measurements aren't like many we've seen before.

“Our operational ozone monitoring and forecasting service shows that the 2023 ozone hole got off to an early start and has grown rapidly since mid-August," Inness said.

ESA

Inness continued: "It reached a size of over 26 million sq km on 16 September making it one of the biggest ozone holes on record. Tropomi ozone data are an important dataset for our ozone analysis.”

At 26 million square kilometers, the hole measured more than three times the size of Brazil, which is 8.51 million square kilometers, and more than North America as a whole, which is 24.71 square kilometers.

The ESA states that it might be too early at the moment to explain the reasons behind the current ozone concentrations, but some researchers have come up with a suggestion for what may be behind it.

The reason for the unusual patterns could be linked to the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai last year.

Mary Lyn Fonua/AFP via Getty Images

Inness said: “The eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano in January 2022 injected a lot of water vapour into the stratosphere which only reached the south polar regions after the end of the 2022 ozone hole.

“The water vapour could have led to the heightened formation of polar stratospheric clouds, where chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) can react and accelerate ozone depletion.

"The presence of water vapour may also contribute to the cooling of the Antarctic stratosphere, further enhancing the formation of these polar stratospheric clouds and resulting in a more robust polar vortex.”

Research into the impacts of the Hunga Tonga eruption on the Southern Hemisphere ozone hole is still ongoing.

The hole is measured using the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, which became the first Copernicus satellite dedicated to monitoring our atmosphere when it launched in October 2017.