Solar Week - Ask a Question



Come here during Solar Week (next one: March 22-26, 2021) to interact. To post a question, click on your area of interest from the topics below, and then click on the "Ask New Question" button. Or EMAIL or tweet or plant in Answer Garden your question about the Sun or life as a scientist to us -- and watch for it to appear here.  You can also visit our FAQs (frequently asked questions). In between Solar Weeks in October and March, you can view all the archives here.

PrevPrev Go to previous topic
NextNext Go to next topic
Last Post 5/19/2015 12:00 PM by  Kris Sigsbee
atmosphere
 1 Replies
Sort:
You are not authorized to post a reply.
Author Messages

Anonymous





Posts:


--
5/18/2015 12:12 PM
    Manny V Why do scientists study the ozone over the south pole? has it been compared to the north pole as well? thank you
    Tags: Antarctica, Arctic, ozone hole

    Kris Sigsbee



    Basic Member


    Posts:415
    Basic Member


    --
    5/19/2015 12:00 PM

    Hello Manny,

    Scientists have studied ozone depletion over both the north and south poles and have compared the ozone loss in both hemispheres. However, ozone depletion is much more serious over the south pole, so you probably have seen a lot more about it on TV and the Internet. Ozone depletion is much more serious over the south pole than the north pole because of the unique weather patterns over the south pole. Large-scale weather systems disturb the wind flow in the Arctic (the north pole) and prevent the temperature in the stratosphere from being as cold, so conditions are not as favorable for ozone depletion. However, in the the Antarctic (the south pole) the long, cold, dark winters allow the formation of polar stratospheric clouds, which create an ideal environment for ozone destruction. The returning sunlight in spring and summer provides energy to start complex chemical reactions that cause the ozone hole above Antarctica. The ozone hole over Antarctica is seasonal and typically lasts from mid-August to late November.

    Kris

    You are not authorized to post a reply.


    Twitter Feed

    Scientist Leaderboard

    Name # of replies
    Multiverse skin is based on Greytness by Adammer