This year, the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has grown larger, and formed later, than at any point in recent years. Expanding to a hole the size of North America, it makes the 2015 hole area the fourth largest on record.

While the gap in the ozone is known to expand and contract over the year, it is still largely the result of man-made chemicals that were pumped into the atmosphere during the 1980s. Scientists at NASA have, however, said that there is no need to panic, as the long-term trends show that the ozone is still on track to recover.

“While the current ozone hole is larger than in recent years, the area occupied by this year's hole is consistent with our understanding of ozone depletion chemistry and consistent with colder-than-average weather conditions in Earth's stratosphere, which help drive ozone depletion,” Paul Newman, chief scientist for Earth Sciences at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, explained in a ...Read more