Why Has an Ozone Hole Appeared over Antarctica When CFCs and Halons Are Released Mainly in the Northern Hemisphere?
The Earth’s atmosphere is continuously stirred over the globe by winds. As a result, ozone-depleting gases get mixed throughout the atmosphere, including Antarctica, regardless of where they are emitted. The special meteorological conditions in Antarctica cause these gases to be more effective there in depleting ozone compared to anywhere else. Human emissions of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons (bromine-containing gases) have occurred mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. About 90% have been released in the latitudes corresponding to Europe, Russia, Japan, and North America. Gases such as CFCs and halons, which are insoluble in water and relatively unreactive, are mixed within a year or two throughout the lower atmosphere. The CFCs and halons in this well-mixed air rise from the lower atmosphere into the stratosphere mainly in tropical latitudes. Winds then move this air polewardboth north and south from the tropics, so that air throughout the global stratosphere contains nearly equ
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