The Earth's atmosphere just pulled a surprising U-turn! The polar vortex, a swirling mass of cold air circling the Arctic, has unexpectedly reversed its direction.
The ozone hole over Antarctica is one of the biggest on record, roughly three times the size of Brazil. It's a natural phenomenon, but scientists are concerned climate change could begin reopening ozone holes.
Increasing temperatures due to climate change will shift climatic conditions, resulting in worse air quality by increasing the number of days with high concentrations of ozone, which has large negative impacts on health.
Instead of an accelerating decline, ozone - destroying CFC-11 showed a steady drop of 2.1 parts-per-trillion each year between 2002 and 2012. Since then, its decline has actually slowed.
The ozone layer -- the thin atmospheric band high-up in the stratosphere that protects living things on Earth from the sun
