The ozone hole has grown considerably in the last week and is now larger than 75% of ozone holes at this time of year since 1979, warn scientists, cited by the Lusa news agency. 

The size of the hole in the ozone layer in the southern hemisphere has exceeded the size of Antarctica, a continent of about 14 million square kilometers, the European atmospheric monitoring service Copernicus announced today.

On today's International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, the team released new data about the atmospheric layer that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation.

"This year, the hole in the ozone layer developed in the way expected at the beginning of the season. 

It looks very similar to previous years, which were not exceptional in September, but then it became one of the biggest in our records for the end of the season," revealed Copernicus director Vincent-Henri Peuch.

According to scientists' estimates, the hole will evolve differently this year than usual.

"The vortex is quite stable and the stratospheric temperatures are even lower than last year," says the researcher. "We are facing a fairly large and potentially deep ozone hole," the researcher added.

The observation system relies on computer modeling, combined with satellite imagery, in a manner similar to weather forecasting, to obtain a comprehensive three-dimensional picture of the ozone hole.

Source: Lusa