Scientists Warn, Antarctic Ozone Hole, Is 'Larger Than Usual'.<br />According to scientists, the Southern Hemisphere ozone hole is larger than usual, already surpassing the size of Antarctica.<br />On September 16, the European Union’s <br />Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said that <br />the ozone hole has grown considerably in the past week.<br />NBC News reports that the hole in the ozone appears every <br />year during the Southern Hemisphere's spring.<br />Forecasts show that this year´s hole has evolved into a rather larger than usual one, Vincent-Henri Peuch, Heads of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, via NBC News.<br />We are looking at a quite big and potentially also deep ozone hole, Vincent-Henri Peuch, Heads of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, via NBC News.<br />Atmospheric ozone absorbs <br />ultraviolet light coming from the sun.<br />Without the atmosphere's protection, more <br />of this high-energy radiation reaches <br />Earth, where it can harm living cells.<br />Peuch noted that last year’s ozone hole became <br />one of the longest-lasting ones on record.<br />NBC News reports that the 1987 Montreal Protocol banned a group of chemicals called halocarbons, blamed <br />for accelerating the annual ozone hole.<br />Experts warn that it is likely to take <br />until the 2060s for ozone-depleting <br />substances to be phased out entirely
