More about ozone layer depletion This includes a five to nine per cent depletion over Australia since the 1960s, which has increased the risk that Australians already face from over-exposure to UV radiation resulting from our outdoor lifestyle.
The hole is currently about 7.6 million square miles wide. That's 1.3 million square miles smaller than last year. But during that same year, Australia wildfires razed down 42 million acres, destroyed thousands of buildings, as well as killing dozens of people and 3 billion animals.
In the final quarter of 2022, scientists from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), reported that the hole in the ozone layer is continuing to shrink. The hole lies above Antarctica and between 7 September and 13 October, 2022, it spanned an average area of 23.2 million square kilometres.
Smoke from intense wildfires that raged across southeastern Australia in 2019–20 caused atmospheric temperatures to spike and probably made the hole in the ozone layer bigger, finds a study1. Extreme drought in 2019 gave rise to bush fires of unprecedented intensity, which burnt more than 5.8 million hectares.
Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. This is due largely to our climate, the fact that many of us have fair skin that isn't really suited to such harsh conditions, our proximity to the equator (high UV levels) and our social attitudes and love for the outdoors.
UV problem of another kind
"Tasmania is unique with the fact that in summer it gets to extreme level, and in winter it doesn't even get to moderate," Mr Carr said.
Australia's unusually harsh sunshine results mainly from its location in the Southern Hemisphere. The elliptical orbit of the Earth places the Southern Hemisphere closer to the sun during its summer months than the Northern Hemisphere during its summer.
In this NASA false-color image, the blue and purple shows the hole in Earth's protective ozone layer over Antarctica on Oct. 5, 2022. Earth's protective ozone layer is slowly but noticeably healing at a pace that would fully mend the hole over Antarctica in about 43 years, a new United Nations report says.
Answer and Explanation: There is no hole in the ozone layer above Australia. However, there is a hole that develops in late winter over Antarctica, a nearby continent.
In late September 2022, the Antarctic ozone hole reached its maximum area with 24.5 million km². Up until early November 2022, the Antarctic ozone hole has been similarly large and long-lasting to the ones in 2021 and 2020 [i].
The maximum ozone hole area is reached at the end of September, slightly later than the average based on ozone data between 1979 and 2019.
This hole was larger than usual - bigger than the size of the continent itself - in 2021. The NOAA predicts that the Antarctic ozone layer could eventually recover “sometime around 2070”.
Each year, severe depletion of the ozone layer occurs over the Antarctic during the spring season (from August to October), known as the 'ozone hole', reaching its maximum between mid-September and mid-October.
Countries that are affected by it the most are Argentina, Chile, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. The largest ozone hole ever observed in the Antarctic was reported by NASA in September 2000. The hole spread out over 28.3 million square miles, more than three times larger than the United States.
The busy Sydney harbour or the skyline of metropolitan Melbourne make it seem unbelievable that nearly 40% of Australia's land is uninhabitable. One reason behind this large landmass being so desolate is the shortage of rainfall. More than two-third part of the country only receives less than 500 mm annual rain.
Central and western Australia are sparsely populated. Large areas of the Northern Territory and the desert regions are uninhabited.
Scientists discovered an extremely bright quasar, a luminous object powered by a supermassive black hole, using the SkyMapper Southern Sky Survey – a 1.3-metre telescope in Coonabarabran, New South Wales.
Around 99 per cent of ozone-depleting substances have been phased out and the protective layer above Earth is being replenished. The Antarctic ozone hole is expected to close by the 2060s, while other regions will return to pre-1980s values even earlier.
According to meteorologists at the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in early 2022, the amount of ozone-killing materials in our stratosphere had fallen by 50% to levels last seen before the ozone hole became a problem. But we still have a way to go before the ozone layer has healed.
If global policies stay in place, the ozone layer is expected to recover to 1980 levels by 2040 for most of the world, the assessment found. For polar areas, the timeframe for recovery is longer: 2045 over the Arctic and 2066 over the Antarctic.
The Sun is a centre point of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures across Australia. Featured on the Aboriginal flag, the Sun is the source of life and death, bringing life and heat to the people. In many Aboriginal traditions, the Sun is a woman and the Moon is a man.
Australia has some of the highest levels of UV radiation in the world – in fact, UV radiation is strong enough to cause sunburn in as little as 11 minutes on a fine summer day. UV radiation from the sun is also one of the best natural sources for vitamin D so a balance is important.
During summer, the Earth's orbit brings Australia closer to the sun (as compared to Europe during its summer), resulting in an additional 7% solar UV intensity. Coupled with our clearer atmospheric conditions, this means that Australians are exposed to up to 15% more UV than Europeans.
New Zealand's rather cool and temperate temperatures can easily hide the harmful effects of the sun. Yet in any season and any weather, the New Zealand sun can burn. Many people say they get more sunburned in New Zealand than anywhere else in the world, even Australia!