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<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fossils-reveal-ecology-of-australia-prehistoric-rainforest-2022-1">Australian</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/australia-wildfires-space-satellite-pictures-smoke-new-zealand-2020-1">wildfires</a> in 2019 and 2020 made <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oregon-bootleg-fire-creating-fire-clouds-pyrocumulonimbus-storms-2021-7">thunderstorms</a> that funneled <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/study-wildfire-smoke-linked-to-excess-covid-19-cases-deaths-2021-8">smoke</a> into the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stratosphere-shrinking-greenhouse-gas-emissions-climate-change-2021-5">stratosphere</a>.</li><li>Two new studies suggest that the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wildfire-smoke-clouds-travel-world-harm-health-2021-8">smoke</a> depleted <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-refrigerators-are-so-hard-to-recycle-greenhouse-gases-2021-8">ozone</a>, which protects Earth from harmful radiation.</li></ul>Wildfire <keyword id="11898862" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="smoke" source="Orion">smoke</keyword> may slow progress on one of the most widely hailed climate success stories: healing the <keyword id="13440849" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ozone" source="Orion">ozone</keyword> layer.In the 1980s, researchers discovered that a class of household chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were eating a hole in the ozone layer, which protects Earth from cancer-causing radiation. A 10% decrease in ozone levels would result in an additional 300,000 skin-cancer cases worldwide, according to a World Health Organization <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-ultraviolet-(uv)-radiation-and-skin-cancer">estimate</a>.World governments banded together to phase CFCs out of household products, like refrigerators and hairspray, when they signed the Montreal Protocol in 1987. CFC emissions fell, and the ozone hole over the Antarctic began to close. Now the ozone layer is on track to fully recover by 2060, according to a <a href="https://csl.noaa.gov/assessments/ozone/2018/executivesummary/">scientific assessment</a> from the United Nations and the World Meteorological Association.But an unexpected new threat — wildfire smoke — might slow that recovery, a pair of recent studies suggest. Researchers discovered that <keyword id="11897977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="australia" source="Orion">Australia</keyword>'s "Black Summer" <keyword id="11898861" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wildfires" source="Orion">wildfires</keyword> in late 2019 and early 2020 created a cloud of smoke so large that it rose into the <keyword id="13440850" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="stratosphere" source="Orion">stratosphere</keyword>, circled the southern hemisphere, and triggered a chain of chemical reactions that destroyed ozone.<div type="image" title="earth australia brush fires smoke new zealand himawari 8 satellite image photo january 2 2020 full_disk_ahi_true_color_20200102022000 4x3 2" height="1500" width="2000" msid="90383949" hostid="261"></div>"Smoke was not supposed to do this," Peter Bernath, an atmospheric chemist at the University of Waterloo, who co-authored one of the studies and led the other, told Insider. "It was completely unexpected that smoke made these atmospheric changes. So this is new chemistry."The smoke was associated with a 1% decrease in ozone at southern midlatitudes in March 2020, according to calculations in one of the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2117325119">studies</a>, published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. One percent may sound small, but it's significant, considering the ozone layer is rebuilding itself by <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/09/1046452">about 1-3% every decade</a>.The second <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm5611">study</a> found that the smoke led to a rise in compounds, like hypochlorous acid, which react with ozone molecules to break them apart. Researchers aren't sure how the smoke causes an increase in these reactive compounds, but they are confident that this is what caused the ozone levels to dip in March 2020. That paper was published in the journal <keyword id="11896083" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="science" source="Orion">Science</keyword> on Thursday.<div type="image" title="Nancy Allen and Brian Allen stand outside the house as high winds push smoke and ash from the Currowan Fire towards Nowra, New South Wales, Australia January 4, 2020. REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy" height="2000" width="2666" msid="90383950" hostid="261"></div>Within about nine months, the smoke had cleared from the stratosphere, and ozone had recovered to pre-wildfire levels. But the researchers suspect that other major wildfire events, like the 2017 and 2020 blazes across the Pacific Northwest, could have a similar ozone-depleting effect.Smoke probably won't undo the ozone layer's healing, Bernath said, but it could slow it down. In recent global <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/4/2021/07/05_Chapter-2-V6.pdf">climate</a> and <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/report/spreading-wildfire-rising-threat-extraordinary-landscape-fires">wildfire</a> reports, the United Nations warned that fires will become more frequent and more severe as global temperatures rise. That could mean more enormous smoke clouds that reach into the stratosphere and destroy ozone."As severe wildfires increase in number, they will play an increasingly important role in the global ozone budget," Bernath's study concludes.<h2>Australia had the first 'super outbreak' of fire-driven thunderstorms</h2><div type="image" title="bootleg fire oregon pyrocumulonimbus clouds" height="1332" width="1779" msid="90383951" hostid="261"></div>When wildfires burn hot enough, under the right conditions, their smoke creates its own weather. It billows up into anvil-shaped thunderstorms called pyrocumulonimbus clouds, or "pyroCbs" for short.Smoke cools and expands as it quickly rises miles high, allowing water vapor to condense on the ash particles and create a cloud sitting atop the smoke column. The fires below fuel hot updrafts that sustain the thunderstorm and funnel smoke into the upper <keyword id="12896459" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="atmosphere" source="Orion">atmosphere</keyword>, like a chimney.<div type="image" title="australia bushfire smoke cloud fills the sky above green mountain ridge" height="1283" width="1711" msid="90383952" hostid="261"></div>That's what happened above Australia in the final months of 2019 and beginning of 2020. As fires consumed about 50 million acres of land, they created about 38 pyrocumulonimbus clouds, which persisted for days.More than half of those clouds reached the stratosphere, according to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-021-00192-9#:~:text=The%20Black%20Summer%20fire%20season,known%20as%20pyrocumulonimbus%20(pyroCb).">research</a> led by David Peterson, a meteorologist who studies pyrocumulonimbus clouds at the Naval Research Laboratory."That's why we refer to it as the first pyroCb super outbreak," Peterson, who is not affiliated with the new studies on ozone, told Insider.<h2>It's unclear how often fires will shoot ozone-destroying smoke into the stratosphere</h2><div type="image" title="wildfire smoke trails above forests mountains in canada seen from space" height="1666" width="2222" msid="90383953" hostid="261"></div>Pyrocumulonimbus clouds that reach into the stratosphere could become more common as the climate warms, but for now, that's hard to forecast."It's not just the fire. You need a certain atmospheric condition that allows for the thunderstorm to develop," Peterson said, adding, "Just because you have more wildfires doesn't necessarily mean you'll get more pyroCbs. It's really, how often do you have this synergy of the weather and the fire at the same time?"That's an area of ongoing research — a "frontier topic," in Peterson's words. Nobody knows the future of wildfire-smoke storms and their ozone-destroying potential.<div type="image" title="copernicus sentinel 2 satellite image photo picture australia brush fires bateman bay twitter ENIPX2YWoAE9BaH" height="1411" width="1882" msid="90383954" hostid="261"></div>Bernath and his colleagues aren't even sure how wildfire smoke leads to compounds that react with ozone. They think that the hydrated, acidic surface of the smoke particles triggers chemical reactions that wouldn't otherwise take place in the stratosphere, creating new compounds."The smoke particles have a reactive surface, and that surface catalyzes this chemistry that destroys the ozone," Bernath said, adding, "So we kind of know what the smoke is doing. And we have some clue what the surface of the smoke particles looks like. But we don't actually know what particular reactions are taking place on the surface."Laboratory research that inserts smoke particles into a stratosphere-like environment, and documents ensuing chemical reactions, could fill in the blanks.Bernath and his colleagues are also studying satellite data from the fires that engulfed the West Coast of the US and Canada in 2020. Those blazes created pyrocumulonimbus clouds, and Bernath suspects that smoke had its own effect on ozone levels."This field of research into pyroCbs and their effects is relatively new, especially compared to other types of wildfire impacts," Peterson said, adding, "We learn a lot, but then we get a lot of new questions."

The ozone hole is set to heal by 2060 — a rare climate success story — but wildfires could slow its progress

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Asked to name the "weirdest wellness thing you've done," Gwyneth Paltrow said rectal ozone therapy.</li><li>She told "The Art of Being Well" podcast it was "very helpful." </li></ul><a href="https://www.insider.com/goop-sex-drive-supplement-dtf-experts-question-effectiveness-2021-10">Gwyneth Paltrow</a> said that she has had rectal ozone therapy in an interview with the podcast "The Art of Being Well."When asked by host Dr. Will Cole to name the "weirdest wellness thing you've done," the <a href="https://www.insider.com/goop-at-sea-gwyneth-paltrow-first-cruise-2021-11">Goop</a> founder said on the show released Monday: "I have used <a href="https://www.insider.com/justin-bieber-lyme-chronic-mono-struggles-to-wake-up-2020-2">ozone therapy</a> rectally," adding: "it's pretty weird."Dr. Cole chimed "it's pretty weird," and joked that it would make for "a good Friday night."Paltrow said she found the treatment "very helpful," but did not detail any benefits or what the therapy was used for. <h2>Ozone therapy is not approved by the FDA</h2><a href="https://health.clevelandclinic.org/ozone-therapy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ozone</a> is a type of oxygen, and the therapy is based around the idea that higher levels of oxygen in the body may be able to boost the immune system and promote healing, pulmonologist Dr. Vickram Tejwani told <a href="https://health.clevelandclinic.org/ozone-therapy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cleveland Clinic</a>.Ozone therapy can be given in a variety of ways: including being applied to the skin, blown into the body vaginally or rectally — like in Paltrow's case — ingested, mixing with blood in an IV, and injected into the muscles.Ozone therapy isn't approved by the <a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=801.415" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FDA, </a>which said in its Code of Federal Regulations updated in January that ozone is a toxic gas with no useful medical application, whether preventative, supplementary, or as a treatment. Tejwani told Cleveland Clinic: "There may potentially be a role for ozone therapy someday, but right now it hasn't been studied enough. We need more data on the potential side effects, which could be severe, before we start offering it as a mainstream therapy or treatment."The FDA said that inhaling the gas can irritate the lungs and cause<a href="https://www.webmd.com/lung/the-facts-about-pulmonary-edema" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> pulmonary edema</a> — where a person struggles to breathe because of fluid in the lungs.

Gwyneth Paltrow says rectal ozone therapy was 'very helpful.' The FDA says it has no medical use.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Spacecraft burning up in the atmosphere are leaving behind metal particles.</li><li>Scientists are racing to understand if that affects the climate.</li></ul>Satellites and spacecraft burning up in our atmosphere are leaving metal particles in the stratosphere — and scientists are worried it could harm our planet.About 10% of the particles floating around the stratosphere now come from the aerospace industry, and we don't know if this could impact the climate.One risk is that these new particles could seed polar stratospheric clouds, which are spectacular <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-rainbow-colored-clouds-in-arctic-sky-near-christmas-2023-12">rainbow-colored clouds</a> that can damage the ozone layer, experts told Business Insider."This is a good demonstration of how important it is to have the basic research on the stratosphere," Daniel Murphy, a research scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Chemical Science Lab, who led a survey of the particles, told BI."There is a whole phenomenon here that we didn't expect out and we don't fully understand the implications," he said.<h2>Stratospheric particles can shape the ozone layer</h2>Remember the ozone layer? If you were around in the 80s, that's likely the period you'd associated it with.This crucial layer of the atmosphere, mostly contained in the stratosphere, protects us from ultraviolet radiation from the sun. It was frequently splashed across the headlines about 40 years ago when <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/antarctic-ozone-hole-is-healing-2015-5">scientists raised the alarm</a> about gaping holes growing over the poles made by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) rising up uncontrolled to the atmosphere.<div type="image" title="A picture shows a heat map of the ozone layer around the planet. A big hole is shown over a pole" height="2162" width="2000" msid="108165845" hostid="261" sizebytes="98904"></div>The ozone holes are not making the news quite so often today. Thanks to the 1987 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-saved-world-ozone-hole-montreal-protocol-2018-6">Montreal Protocol</a>, a global agreement that set out a trajectory to phase out ozone-damaging gases, they have been <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ozone-layer-climate-success-story-threatened-by-wildfires-2022-3">steadily healing</a>.Still, they are not gone. In September 2023, the hole above the Antarctic grew to its <a target="_blank" href="https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/twists-and-turns-2023-southern-hemisphere-ozone-hole#:~:text=The%202023%20Antarctic%20ozone%20hole,the%20end%20of%20the%20month.">sixth-biggest size</a> ever observed before snapping back, likely because of the particles spewed by the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tonga-volcano-eruption-ruptures-giant-undersea-internet-cable-2022-1">Hunga Tonga underwater volcano eruption</a> in 2022.That's why it's important to keep an eye on particles in the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stratosphere-shrinking-greenhouse-gas-emissions-climate-change-2021-5">stratosphere</a>. These nanometer-sized flecks, which naturally come from meteors crashing into the planet, can dramatically change the stratosphere's chemistry.Clouds don't usually tend to form in the stratosphere, because it's much drier than the troposphere, where most clouds are born.By bringing in elements you wouldn't usually see in the sky, like metals, these particles can combine with the sulfuric acid naturally present in the stratosphere to create a chemical reaction that can suck up passing water vapor, creating an ice crystal.That, in turn, can spark a chain reaction that creates rainbow-colored polar stratospheric clouds.On their own, these stunning clouds are harmless, but they can be terrifying when mixed with human-made gases. The clouds' edges offer perfect conditions to turn damaging chlorines and bromides into their active, ozone-busting form.<div type="image" title="Rainbow colored clouds are seen strewn in the skies." height="3651" width="5477" msid="108165847" hostid="261" sizebytes="362540"></div><h2>Metal from satellites and spacecraft is vaporizing into the atmosphere</h2>Murphy and his colleagues <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rocket-satellite-metals-polluting-earth-stratosphere-2023-10">recently conducted a survey</a> of the state of stratospheric particles over Alaska using a sensitive detector aboard NASA's WB-57 high-altitude research plane.The findings, published in the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2313374120">peer-reviewed journal PNAS</a> in October 2023, revealed that about 10% of the stratospheric sulfuric acid particles they picked up could not be explained by natural causes."We weren't really looking for spacecraft, but it became apparent in the data that there were elements that couldn't be coming from the meteors," Murphy told BI.<div type="image" title="A picture from inside a cockpit shows the sky and clouds below" height="609" width="1999" msid="108165850" hostid="261" sizebytes="71150"></div>The particles contained "far too much aluminum, far too much lithium, far too much of a few other elements to be coming from meteors," he said.Two elements found in the particles, niobium and hafnium, were particularly surprising, Murphy <a target="_blank" href="https://csl.noaa.gov/news/2023/388_1016.html">said.</a>These don't occur naturally, but have to be refined, the scientists said."The combination of aluminum and copper, plus niobium and hafnium, which are used in heat-resistant, high-performance alloys, pointed us to the aerospace industry," Murphy added.<div type="image" title="A graphic shows how meteors and spacecraft reentry could spark metal particles in the stratosphere." height="3515" width="4270" msid="108165852" hostid="261" sizebytes="493792"></div>Right now, we simply don't know what these new particles could do. But scientists are eager to figure it out."This is a new problem and we're just beginning to understand it," said Murphy.They may be able to spark polar stratospheric clouds. If so, this could be a big problem in the short term, Martin Chipperfield, a professor of atmospheric sciences from the University of Leeds, UK, told BI."The timescale for the ozone hole to disappear is about 2060 based on current predictions because the chlorine is going down very, very slowly," said Chipperfield, who was not involved in the study."So that still gives plenty of scope in the short term, if we greatly increase the burnout of space debris over next couple of decades, for the ozone hole get worse before it gets better," he said.These new particles could also migrate to the troposphere, where they might influence the formation of <a target="_blank" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/fionagh-thomson-447864">feathery cirrus clouds</a>. Unlike other clouds, cirrus clouds retain heat in our atmosphere, which could worsen the climate crisis.It's also possible that the particles could create a completely new phenomenon. Or they could do nothing at all.Their composition is unique, so it's unclear what to expect. Murphy said scientists will have to do experiments in the lab to test this out."It's very important to understand it because the space industry is growing so rapidly," Murphy told BI."If there are impacts, you'd rather understand it now before it grows than after it's already grown a lot."<h2>We're realizing how little we know</h2>With launch costs going down, the number of satellites orbiting the planet is only expected to grow to over<a target="_blank" href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-105166#:~:text=Rocket%20launches%20and%20satellite%20reentries,emissions%20could%20mitigate%20the%20effects."> 50,000 </a>by 2030, up from <a target="_blank" href="https://orbit.ing-now.com/low-earth-orbit/">about 8,000 now.</a> Many of these satellites are expected to have a short lifetime."If you multiply those numbers out, a satellite will be reentering the atmosphere on average about once an hour," said Murphy.Within the next few decades, Murphy and his co-authors estimate aerospace debris could make up 50% of the particles in the stratosphere, which makes the need to understand what they do even more pressing.<div type="image" title="An illustration of thousands of dots around the Earth shows the density of satellites in the sky." height="1024" width="1024" msid="108165854" hostid="261" sizebytes="200390"></div>Spacecraft decommissioning is only part of the equation, said Chipperfield."There's an increasing number of rocket launches for small satellites and tourism, which burn kerosene or other fuels that emissions in the atmosphere. Then some satellites and orbit have fuel like iodine that can come back to the atmosphere. And then the demise," he said."I think the whole life cycle of satellites is definitely one to watch, and this burn up is part of that," said Chipperfield.Scientists are also seriously considering <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/geoengineering-atmosphere-clouds-harvard-2018-4">geoengineering the atmosphere</a> to help shield our planet from the heat of the sun by sending billions of particles of sulfuric acid into the stratosphere.For Murphy, this all goes to show just how little we know about how humans are affecting the stratosphere as more forays are reaching for the skies."That there was still a surprise in our understanding of the composition of particles in the stratosphere is relevant to conversations about adding more," said Murphy.

Satellites burning up in our atmosphere may not be as harmless as first thought

NASA literally saved us from a planet-wide apocalypse in the 1980's. If they hadn't noticed a huge problem in our atmosphere, life on Earth would have collapsed by the year 2065. Following is a transcript of the video.The early '80s were a very different time. Crazy hair, crazy clothes, we didn't know we were heading towards a planet-wide disaster. And if nothing had been done about it, this is what the world would have become in 2065: Crops fail, livestock farming fails, aquaculture fails, and cancer rates are through the roof. Step outdoors in Washington DC, you'll get a severe sunburn in 5 minutes.But lucky for us, NASA had our backs in the '80s. NASA might be famous for exploring space, but that's not its only job. The agency studies Earth, too. Which helps it track how our environment works and catch when something goes wrong. And in 1985, things had indeed gone terribly wrong.Teams of scientists from NASA and the British Antarctic Survey discovered a severely damaged section of Earth's ozone layer over Antarctica.Here's why that's a problem: The ozone layer is a region in the stratosphere that absorbs harmful UV light from the sun. It's basically our planet's natural sunscreen. And it had grown extremely thin over Antarctica. So the ozone hole, as it became known, was absorbing less UV light than normal.In fact, from Sept. through Nov. of that year, the ozone levels in the hole dropped by up to 67%. That's like if you used only a third of the sunscreen you were supposed to before going to the beach. Thankfully, NASA had a pretty good idea of what was happening. For years prior, scientists had been sounding the alarm on chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs for short.They were common in products like aerosol sprays and refrigerators and were chosen specifically because they were non-toxic to humans. But scientists soon discovered that didn't matter because these molecules were extremely toxic to the ozone layer!Turns out, when UV light hits a CFC molecule, it releases a chlorine atom which basically goes on a killing spree to celebrate. Turning ozone molecules into<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=CFC+reacts+with+UV+light+to+produce+oxygen&amp;source=lnms&amp;tbm=isch&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjZg_W-w5zbAhUDeKwKHa4DCCkQ_AUICigB&amp;biw=1002&amp;bih=542#imgrc=hCRZGYZeKUtzKM:"> oxygen</a> which are worthless when it comes to protecting your planet from UV radiation. O<a href="https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/basic-ozone-layer-science">ne chlorine atom</a>, for instance, can destroy over 100,000 ozone molecules before it binds with another molecule and becomes inert. And the worst part? Chlorine atoms are especially destructive to the ozone in cold temperatures. Making Antarctica especially vulnerable.But if CFC's continued to go on unchecked, cold regions wouldn't be the only casualty. By 2020: 17% would be gone worldwide and a similar ozone hole forms over the Arctic. By 2040 70% would be gone. By 2050 After the poles, the tropics lose their ozone layer completely. And in 2065 We're doomed!UV radiation levels on Earth's surface double, which sparks all sorts of problems.Susan Strahan: "If that UV were coming all the way to the surface, we would get skin cancer, we would have cataracts on our eyes, animals would get cataracts, our crops would die! So life on Earth -life on Earth for humans - really wouldn't be possible. It sounds like some kind of horrible Hollywood disaster movie.I think we would have been in for a -well, it sounds pretty extreme -apocalyptic consequences. But really, we might have been."Fortunately, none of that happened. That's because scientists across the world banded together. The Montreal Protocol was signed into effect in 1987, lowering production of harmful CFCs.Susan Strahan: "The policymakers listened to <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword>, they were informed by science, and they made a great decision….And it worked!"By 1996, CFCs were banned completely in developed countries. And today, Now satellite data indicates that the Ozone hole is on the mend. And if we keep it up, it could be completely healed by the end of this century.So it looks like the world won't crumble by 2065 anymore. Well, at least not from a depleted ozone layer.

How NASA saved the world

<div id="ooyalaplayer" style="width: 800px; height: 450px;"></div><div style="display:none;" id="kalturavideoplaceholder">kalturavideoplaceholder</div><div><div><div class="g-ytsubscribe" data-channel="BusinessInsider" data-layout="full" data-count="default"></div></div></div>A hole in the Earth's ozone layer created by man-made substances could be healed by the 2050s.&#xa0;Produced by&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/noah-friedman">Noah Friedman</a>.&#xa0;Original reporting by Jessica Orwig.Follow BI Video:&#xa0;<a href="https://twitter.com/BI_Video">On Twitter</a>&#xa0;

A giant man-made hole in Earth's atmosphere is getting smaller

<a title_source="NASA Goddard on YouTube" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5550dab0ecad04b91b2ae3b3-960/screen%20shot%202015-05-11%20at%2012.36.26%20pm.png"></a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bWQQWvJymc">NASA Goddard on YouTube</a>Now that summer is here, you'll likely be slathering up with sunscreen.
Earth, it turns out, is doing the same, according to an encouraging study recently published by a team of scientists at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research at the Universities Space Research Association.
Earth has its own layer of sunscreen called the ozone layer, or ozone shield, which makes up <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/ozone.php">part of the stratosphere</a> and absorbs most of the sun's ultra-violet (UV) radiation. But it doesn't absorb all of the UV light, and <a href="http://www.epa.gov/spdpublc/science/effects/index.html">what gets through can cause skin cancer and cataracts in humans as well as reproductive problems in fish, crabs, and frogs</a>.

Since 1983, scientists have observed a scary phenomenon: Earth's ozone was extremely weak over parts of Antarctica, letting in bouts of harmful UV radiation. The reason, in part, was because a series of <a href="http://www.epa.gov/spdpublc/science/ods/index.html">man-made chemicals</a> - namely chlorine and bromine - were eating away the planet's protective, sunscreen-like layer.
They called this weaker region Antarctica's ozone hole. Although the hole's size varies each year, it has been consistently larger than 8 million square miles since 1990 - more than twice the size of the entire United States!
<a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100505-science-environment-ozone-hole-25-years/">In recent years, scientific reports</a> have noted that the hole is slowly healing - thanks to a decrease in ozone-depleting chemicals in the atmosphere - but scientists were not sure when the hole would be completely regenerated.
Now, according to a study published in journal <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014JD022295/abstract">Geophysical Research: Atmospheres</a>, the hole should finally, permanently shrink below 8 million square miles by 2040s and could even be fully recovered by the end of the century.
<h2>The source of the problem</h2>
For the middle half of the 20th Century, companies used ozone-depleting chemicals, called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), in refrigerators and aerosol sprays that, through use, were getting released into the atmosphere. By the early '80s scientists were beginning to understand the damage that these chemicals were doing to the planet.
When CFCs float up to the troposphere, above the ozone, they interact with UV radiation from the sun releasing chlorine, which destroys ozone. As a result of this discovery, <a href="http://ozone.unep.org/new_site/en/montreal_protocol.php">an international treaty called the Montreal Protocol was enacted in 1989</a> that began phasing out the production and subsequent emission of ozone-depleting chemicals.
By that point, however, the damage had been done.
These chemicals can hang out in the atmosphere for years after they've entered the atmosphere. Like a series of dominoes, the ozone hole continued to grow even after CFCs were banned. Here's a chart showing the size of the ozone hole, in blue, from 1979 through 2012:
<a title_source="Images from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, graphic by Business Insider" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5550fc4069bedd103f02b68d-960/ozonegraphic_edited-1.jpg"></a><a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/ozone.php?all=y">Images from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, graphic by Business Insider</a>Ozone depletion above the planet's north and south poles was exceptionally bad because Earth's wind currents were sweeping the chemicals toward either end of the planet.
Once these chemicals reached the poles, a large-scale cyclone, called the polar vortex, was trapping the chemicals where they accumulated over time to high concentrations, ravenously eating away the ozone (see the GIF below). This led to the Antarctic ozone hole as well as the Arctic ozone hole, which in 2011 reportedly had <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20110404030910/http://www.eurasiareview.com/arctic-on-verge-of-record-ozone-loss-25032011/">half the ozone</a> it used to.
Using <a href="http://aura.gsfc.nasa.gov/">NASA'S Aura satellite</a> - an instrument orbiting Earth that sniffs out certain chemicals, including chlorine - the team of scientists studied the amount of ozone-eating chemicals above Antarctica from 2004 to 2012. From that, they identified a clear relation between the level of chlorine in the atmosphere and the size of the ozone hole.
They then looked at ozone hole sizes from 1979 through 2013 and predicted what future hole sizes will be based on how quickly chlorine levels are decreasing in the atmosphere above the Antarctic.
"With this new information we can look into the future and say with confidence that ozone holes will be consistently smaller than 8 million square miles by 2040," said Susan Strahan, a senior research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, in a video about the study. "And that will really be a milestone that we're finally past the era of big ozone holes."
Check out the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bWQQWvJymc">full video below</a>:
<div><biembeddedobject id="eb4e7cc6-fa68-4db8-9906-1c4f55e11989"></biembeddedobject></div>

A giant man-made hole in Earth's atmosphere is finally closing up

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>A lot of horrible things happened in 2016 around the world. Some people are so upset that they have even wondered <a href="http://www.historytoday.com/paul-lay/2016-worst-year-history">whether or not 2016 is the worst year in history</a>.But Tumblr user <a href="http://helthehatter.tumblr.com/">helthehatter</a> is now going viral after writing a list of all the positive things that have happened in 2016. <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/krishrach/people-are-sharing-this-inspiring-list-of-good-things-that-h?utm_term=.giW19NAj6#.emV7mvexj">First spotted by BuzzFeed</a>,&#xa0;the list, titled "<a href="http://helthehatter.tumblr.com/post/152910935316/good-things-that-happened-in-2016">Good Things that happened in 2016</a>" currently has over 180,000 notes and responses.<div><div class="tumblr-post" data-href="https://embed.tumblr.com/embed/post/i8TNZ2T6p0dkZl4__UZndg/152910935316" data-did="2fc3daeb89b81a3b22ee69c0566c136d18ed6f00"><a href="http://helthehatter.tumblr.com/post/152910935316/good-things-that-happened-in-2016">http://helthehatter.tumblr.com/post/152910935316/good-things-that-happened-in-2016</a></div> </div>Among some of the positive things 2016 brought us, helthehatter mentions everything from <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/us/women-currency-treasury-harriet-tubman.html?_r=0">Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill</a>&#xa0;and <a href="http://kxan.com/2016/10/11/ut-students-behind-breakthrough-to-minimize-side-effects-of-chemo/">new breakthroughs in chemotherapy</a> to amazing entertainment masterpieces, including "<a href="http://www.thisisinsider.com/horrifying-zootopia-deleted-scene-2016-6">Zootopia</a>" and the "<a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/6897201/hamilton-mixtape-chance-the-rapper-queen-latifah-busta-rhymes">Hamilton Mixtape</a>."The post borrows points from <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/4usimr/what_good_things_happened_in_2016_so_far/">a similar Reddit thread</a>, BuzzFeed points out, but also adds a few other positive things that have happened this year and added people should "#NeverForgetTheGood."Of course, because this is the internet, not everything on this list is 100% accurate. It's also worth noting that pointing out all the good things that happened this year does not take away from how horrible the bad things were, or vice versa.But the post is&#xa0;a reminder&#xa0;to think positively, even in an admittedly garbage year like 2016.&#xa0;And it's resonating with many people, who&#xa0;are even sharing their own positive takes on 2016 in the comments and thanking helthehatter for the post.And as for user helthehatter, they told BuzzFeed that they are "overwhelmed" with the reaction.<a href="http://helthehatter.tumblr.com/post/152910935316/good-things-that-happened-in-2016">You can view the original Tumblr post here</a>, or read the copy and pasted version below:<h3 style="padding-left: 30px;">Good Things that Happened in 2016</h3><div style="padding-left: 30px;">·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; New chemotherapy breakthroughs have increased the 5-year survival for pancreatic cancer from 16% to 27% (and is getting better)·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Scientists figured out how to link robotic limbs with the part of the brain that deals with intent to move so people don't have to think about how they will move the limb, it can just happen.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Child mortality is down everywhere and it keeps going down.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Thanks to the ice bucket challenge the gene responsible for ALS has been found, meaning we are closer to an effective treatment. Let me rephrase that: we are close to getting a treatment for a very bad disease because a lot of people (including really hot celebrities) got wet.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; A solar powered plan circumnavigated the world.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Michael Jordan donates 2mil to try and help bridge connection between police and the community.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Tiger numbers are growing.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; And manatees.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; And pandas.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Pakistan has made strides toward outlawing honor killings.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; 70,000 Muslim clerics declared a fatwa against ISIS.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Pokemon Go players went insane with placing lure modules near hospitals for sick kids.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; California is now powering over 6 million homes with solar power, a record in the US (and that is the tightest shit)·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Volunteers in India planted 50 million trees in 24 hours.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Apparently world crime as a whole has drastically declined as a whole in the last couple of decades.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Coffee consumption has been proved to help curtail cancer and suicide rates.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Speaking of coffee Starbucks figured out how to donate perishable food in a food safe way.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; 500 elephants were relocated to a better, safer and bigger home.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; We made massive strides in Alzheimers' prevention (my grandmother literally told me that scares her more than getting cancer this is very good news)·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; The ozone layer is repairing itself and all the work we did to get rid of those aerosol chemicals was actually worth it.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; A new therapy developed in Israel could cure radiation sickness.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; The Anglican church resolved to solemnize same-sex unions the same as opposite-sex unions which required a super majority of all three orders of the church (lay, clergy, bishop).·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; The Rabbinical Assembly issued a resolution affirming the rights of transgender and non-conforming individuals.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Precision treatments for cancer are hitting clinical trials and WORKING (as someone who's had relatives with cancer this is the best news)·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Dentists are once again providing free care to veterans who need it.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; The Orlando Shakespeare Festival showed up with angel wings to block funeral-goers for the Orlando Pulse victims, view from anti-gay protesters·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; We may have cured MS·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Rise Women's Legal Centre opened·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Death by heart disease has decreased by 70% in the United States·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Two brothers saw color for the first time thanks to specially-designed glasses·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Pope Francis spoke against society's obsession with physical beauty while dedicating Mass to the disabled community (love that dude)·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Portugal ran its entire nation solely on renewable energy for four days straight·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; A retiree is launching a project to transport 80 endangered rhinos to an Australian reservation to save the animals from poaching·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; An Afghan teacher has been delivering books via bicycle to villages that lack schools·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Harriet Tubman is going to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; 200 strangers attended the funeral of a homeless WW2 veteran with no family·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; A teen battling cancer married his sweetheart·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Bank firm pays for college tuition for the children of employees who died in the 9/11 attacks·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; New medicine has been shown to increase melanoma survival rate to 40%·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Over 800 Boko Harem Hostages were rescued by Nigerian Army·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Toys R Us is Offering Quiet Shopping Hour for kids with autism this holiday season·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Volunteers made special tiny Halloween costumes for NICU babies·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; A 4-year old befriends a lonely man and helped him heal after losing his wife·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Families grew·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; People survived cancer·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; People overcame depression·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Any kind of victory, even if it affects only one person, &#xa0;is a victory·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Now for the pop culture good news·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; LEONARDO DICAPRIO WON AN OSCAR! EVERYONE READING THIS LIVED LONG ENOUGH TO SEE LEO FINALLY GET WHAT HE DESERVED·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; There's a new Harry Potter book·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; And a movie·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Harry Potter has no plans on vanishing with time·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; This sweet father gave candy to passengers on a flight so his little girl could trick or treat on Halloween·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; LET ME TALK ABOUT ALL THE KICK ASS MOVIES WE GOT THIS YEAR OH MY GOD·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Kung Fu Panda 3, this franchise is still going strong despite that its about a panda played by Jack Black·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Jungle Book. The amazing remake none of us saw coming·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Finding Dory. I haven't seen it yet but I've heard good things·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Kubo and the Two Strings. Haven't seen that yet as well but its Laika so I know it's a masterpiece·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Deadpool. The beautiful and super accurate R-rated marvel film·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Captain America: Civil War. Seriously is the best marvel movie yet in my opinion I need more.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Zootopia. Oh don't mind me I'm just a movie that tackled the issue of racism and not only game changed animated films but also made a billion dollars·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; The Hamilton Mixtape is coming out. Which is a bunch of artists singing songs from the musical (Sia, Usher, Regina Spketor, etc.) I'm excited.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; A personal victory for myself, I joined Tumblr and met angels in blog form so…that's uplifting.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; And I met my favorite voice actor at a con which was a bucket list accomplishment.Good Things that have yet to happen this year·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Birthdays·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Thanksgiving·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Black Friday·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Moana·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; ChristmasGood things that have nothing to do with the year but will hopefully make you feel better·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Puppies·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Chocolate·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Rainbows·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Rain (I like listening to rain it's one of the most calming sounds)·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Cartoons·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Kissing·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Music·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Friends·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; FF: If you are a religious person you are an imperfect masterpiece·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; FF: If you are not then you are a splendid coincidence·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; Any year spent with loved ones be they family or friends is a good year. Trust me.·&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0;&#xa0; "A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have" -Roger Rabbit#NeverForgetTheGood</div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/disney-will-make-your-cake-dance-2016-10">Disney makes a wedding cake with dancing projections</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="FtdzMwNzE6WzwThsgpqoFiSRWLFXpcWS" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

You Searched For "Ozone healing" and got 7 results

The ozone hole is set to heal by 2060 — a rare climate success story — but wildfires could slow its progress

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A giant man-made hole in Earth's atmosphere is finally closing up

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