While the Antarctic ozone hole has a relatively small effect on global ozone, the hole has generated a great deal of public interest because:
While the Antarctic ozone hole has a relatively small effect on global ozone, the hole has generated a great deal of public interest because:
Many have worried that ozone holes might start appearing over other areas of the globe, though to date the only other large-scale depletion is a smaller ozone "dimple" observed during the Arctic spring around the North Pole. Ozone at middle latitudes has declined, but by a much smaller extent (a decrease of about 4–5 percent).
If stratospheric conditions become more severe (cooler temperatures, more clouds, more active chlorine), global ozone may decrease at a greater pace. Standard global warming theory predicts that the stratosphere will cool.[58]
When the Antarctic ozone hole breaks up each year, the ozone-depleted air drifts out into nearby regions. Decreases in the ozone level of up to 10 percent have been reported in New Zealand in the month following the breakup of the Antarctic ozone hole,[59] with ultraviolet-B radiation intensities increasing by more than 15 percent since the 1970s
