depletion of the ozone layer in the polar north

Ozone layer in the Arctic continues to experience thinning. Air temperature is relatively low since the end of last year pushed ozone depletion on a new record. The measurement results show, half the ozone layer at an altitude of 20 kilometers has been damaged in just over a week, according to information reported by National Geographic Indonesia.

Markus Rex, scientists from the Alfred Wagener Institute (AWI), Germany, which monitors states that damage the ozone layer is predicted to continue to happen because the conditions that lead to ozone depletion continues. Therefore, Rex recommends extra attention in the form of protection against UV radiation is adequate in the spring of this year.

Ozone destruction occurs due to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which became aggressive substances and destroy ozone when exposed to air is very cold. Scientists have attributed the phenomenon of ozone depletion to climate change, especially when last winter was colder air temperatures that cause further damage to the ozone layer.

An international environmental policy, called the Montreal Protocol that banned CFCs use of hazardous materials around the world starting in 1987. However, CFCs that have been released into the air in the previous decade in the atmosphere will remain there until the coming decades. Therefore, the fate of the ozone layer at the north pole is very dependent on air temperature in the stratosphere at an altitude of about 20 kilometers above the earth which also related to changes in the earth's climate.

Analysis: Global warming killing some species

Animal and plant species have begun dying off or changing sooner than predicted because of global warming, a review of hundreds of research studies contends.

These fast-moving adaptations come as a surprise even to biologists and ecologists because they are occurring so rapidly.

At least 70 species of frogs, mostly mountain-dwellers that had nowhere to go to escape the creeping heat, have gone extinct because of climate change, the analysis says. It also reports that between 100 and 200 other cold-dependent animal species, such as penguins and polar bears are in deep trouble.

“We are finally seeing species going extinct,” said University of Texas biologist Camille Parmesan, author of the study. “Now we’ve got the evidence. It’s here. It’s real. This is not just biologists’ intuition. It’s what’s happening.”

Her review of 866 scientific studies is summed up in the journal Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics.

Parmesan reports seeing trends of animal populations moving northward if they can, of species adapting slightly because of climate change, of plants blooming earlier, and of an increase in pests and parasites.