Joseph Farman, Brian Gardiner and Jonathan Shanklin, are the BAS scientists who discovered the Antarctic ozone hole. Their paper was published in Nature , May 1985, the study summarized data that had been collected by the British Antarctic Survey showing that ozone levels had dropped to 10% below normal January levels for Antarctica.
In the 1980's the first measurements of this loss were actually documented. In 1984, when the British first reported their findings, October ozone levels were about 35 percent lower than the average for the 1960s. When the first measurements were taken the drop in ozone levels in the stratosphere was so dramatic that at first the scientists thought their instruments were faulty.
NASA Nimbus 7
The U.S. satellite Nimbus-7 quickly confirmed the results, and the term Antarctic ozone hole entered popular language.
The ozone hole appeared first over the colder Antarctic because the ozone-destroying chemical process works best in cold conditions. The Antarctic continent has colder conditions than the Arctic, which has no land-mass. As the years have gone by the Ozone Hole has increased rapidly and is as large as the Antarctica continent. The hole lasts for only two months, but its timing could not be worse. Just as sunlight awakens activity in dormant plants and animals, it also delivers a dose of harmful ultraviolet radiation. After eight weeks, the hole leaves Antarctica, only to pass over more populated areas, including The Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the tip of South America. This biologically damaging, high-energy radiation can cause skin cancer, injure eyes, harm the immune system, and upset the fragile balance of an entire ecosystem. News about the ozone hole that forms over Antarctica each October has spread around the world. The ozone hole can be as big as 1.5 times larger than the United States.
Size Comparison Antarctica -United StatesBelow is a table of geographic areas to be used as references in conceptualizing just how large the ozone hole can get.
Following are referable areas:
Australia8,923,000 Sq KmUnited States9,363,130 Sq KmEurope10,498,000 Sq KmAntarctica13,340,000 Sq KmRussia17,078,000 Sq KmNorth America25,349,000 Sq KmAfrica30,335,000 Sq KmS. Pole to 70 S15,300,000 Sq Km
Source: NOAA Climate Prediction Center