Shrinking Ozone Threatens Nations Down Under

Oct. 20 -- With sunburns in as little as seven minutes, Chileans are already feeling the effects of a thinning ozone layer.

If this warming continues, down under nations will be the first to face the devastating economic effects. The rest of the world will follow.

Chilean officials issued an ozone alert Oct. 9 as an “arm” of low-ozone atmosphere passed over southern Chile, dousing the region with extremely high levels of ultraviolet radiation.

Those who ventured outside without protection suffered sunburns in as little as seven minutes. As the ozone layer shrinks, such occurrences will become more frequent in other, more populous areas, damaging local economies and public health.

The ozone layer is a thin, stratospheric layer of gas that absorbs most of the ultraviolet radiation (UV) the sun produces. While UV that normally penetrates the ozone layer causes sunburn, prolonged exposure can cause skin cancer.

UV radiation can damage livestock and fish and hobble the economies of several countries if exposure becomes constant.

Antarctic Threat

The ozone layer has been steadily thinning since monitoring began in 1985. Nowhere has this decrease been more dramatic than over the Antarctic — the hub of global wind currents.

Here an ozone “hole” forms each southern winter, reaching its largest extent in September when colder temperatures inhibit ozone formation. Experts in the World Meteorological Organization, a branch of the United Nations, say this year’s ozone hole is the deepest and largest ever, with over 50 percent depletion over an area three times the size of the United States.

Occasionally, areas of thinner ozone spin off the main Antarctic hole; one of these passed over southern Chile Oct. 9.

Unlike other environmental issues, such as the greenhouse effect, less controversy surrounds ozone depletion. We can readily measure ozone layer density and surface UV levels, observing yearly changes.

Alleged global warming issues, however, occur over generations, making it easy to delay decisions. In contrast to the slow pace and skepticism with which some governments approach global warming, action on the ozone layer has been relatively swift.