Newly released data from NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) studies shows our ozone layer is healing. Snip from NASA announcement:
A team led by Eun-Su Yang of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, analyzed 25 years of independent ozone observations at different altitudes in Earth's stratosphere, which lies between six and 31 miles above the surface. The observations were gathered from balloons, ground-based instruments, NASA and NOAA satellites.
The stratosphere is Earth's second lowest atmospheric layer. It contains approximately 90 percent of all atmospheric ozone. The researchers concluded the Earth's protective ozone layer outside of the polar regions stopped thinning around 1997. Ozone in these areas declined steadily from 1979 to 1997.
Link (with more chart-o-licious infoporn), and here's a 7MB quicktime animation: Link (screengrab shown above).
Reader comment:
Steve Mallett says,
With threats of funding cuts and various other pressures put upon NASA
it seems suspicious, though I hope it is indeed true, that NASA comes
out supporting something that Republicans would like to see… that Al
Gore is wrong.
James Orr says,
The user comment you posted under the story "NASA: Data indicates Earth's ozone layer is on the mend" – is incorrect. It's been known for some time that the ozone layer is improving, a fact that Gore actually mentions in his documentary about global warming, a separate phenomenon.
Aaron Suring says,
In his movie "Inconvenient Truth" Gore points to the recovery of the ozone layer as a sign of hope that through policies, change is possible. And that now that we have made progess on the ozone layer we need to start working on carbon dioxide emmisions.
