2008 ozone hole larger than 2007's hole

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2008 ozone hole larger than 2007's hole
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
www.arcamax.com

PARIS (UPI) -- The European Space Agency says scientists have determined the 2008 ozone hole is larger than last year's ozone hole but smaller than the 2006 hole.

"This year the area of the thinned ozone layer over the South Pole reached about 27 million square kilometers, compared to 25 million square kilometers in 2007 and a record ozone hole extension of 29 million square kilometers in 2006, which is about the size of the North American continent," the ESA said.

Scientists said the depletion of ozone is caused by extremely cold temperatures at high altitude and the presence of ozone-destructing gases such as chlorine and bromine, originating from man-made products like chlorofluorocarbons, which were phased out under the 1987 Montreal Protocol but linger in the atmosphere.

Julian Meyer-Arnek of the German Aerospace Center which monitors the hole annually, said since the polar vortex remained undisturbed for a long period, the 2008 ozone hole has become one of the largest ever observed.

The annual analysis is based on data provided by instruments aboard the ESA's Envisat, ERS2 and MetOp satellites.

Study: Increased Greenland ice melt likely

Copyright 2008 by United Press International (armax.com)

MADISON, Wis. (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say an analysis of the Laurentide Ice Sheet -- the last Northern Hemisphere ice sheet to disappear -- suggests increased Greenland ice melt.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin and Columbia University's Center for Climate Systems Research said the disappearance of the Laurentide Ice Sheet is the closest example of what can be expected in Greenland during the next century.

The study shows sea level rise as a result of ice sheet melt can occur very rapidly.

"We have never seen an ice sheet retreat significantly or even disappear before, yet this may happen for the Greenland ice sheet in the coming centuries to millennia," said University of Wisconsin Assistant Professor Anders Carlson, who led the study. "What we don't know is the rate of melting of the Greenland ice sheet."

"The word 'glacial' used to imply something was very slow," said Allegra LeGrande, who led the computer modeling portion of the study. "This new evidence … indicates that 'glacial' is anything but slow. Past ice sheets responded quickly to a changing climate, hinting at the potential for a similar response in the future."

The findings appear in the online edition of the journal Nature Geoscience.