NOAA, NASA Release Measurements of 2026 Ozone Hole
By noaa.gov, noaa.gov.
Atypical weather conditions caused the Antarctic ozone hole to grow to an unusually large size in 2026, NOAA and NASA scientists reported today, though they said the protective ozone layer is still on track to recover by later this century.
Fueled by a powerful polar vortex, the 2026 ozone hole became the seventh-largest in 48 years of monitoring, based on NOAA and NASA analysis of the seasonal mean area. However, scientists noted that this year’s hole would have been larger still if levels of ozone-destroying chemicals in the atmosphere had not been reduced through international cooperation.
During peak ozone depletion season between September 7 and October 13, 2026, the average extent of the hole covered about 9.6 million square miles (25 million square kilometers) — more than twice the area of the United States. Scientists continually track the amount of ozone in the stratosphere because it acts as Earth’s “sunscreen,” helping shield life from harmful solar radiation. This is distinct from ground level ozone, which is an air pollutant commonly resulting from human activities.
“The annual ozone hole has been forming later in the season in recent years, which tells us the ozone layer is healing,” said Paul Newman, a senior scientist at the University of Maryland and longtime leader of NASA’s ozone research team at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “But an unusually powerful polar vortex has extended ozone depletion in the Antarctic this season, allowing the hole to grow to proportions we haven’t seen in a decade.”
The hole reached its greatest extent for the year on September 18 at 10.5 million square miles (27.1 million square kilometers). That’s about 90% as large as the largest ozone hole ever observed, which occurred on September 9, 2000.
“The 2026 ozone hole is large but could have been 1 to 2 million square miles (3.5 million square kilometers) larger if ozone-depleting substances were as prevalent in the atmosphere today as they were at their year 2000 peak,” Newman said.
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