Hole in Antarctic ozone layer shrinks to smallest since 2019, scientists say

EU's Copernicus monitoring service hails reassuring sign' of progress observed this year in hole's size and duration

The hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic this year was the smallest and shortest-lived since 2019, according to European space scientists, who described the finding as a reassuring sign" of the layer's recovery.

The yearly gap in what scientists have called planetary sunscreen" reached a maximum area of 21m sq km (8.1m sq miles) over the southern hemisphere in September - well below the maximum of 26m sq km reached in 2023 - and shrank in size until coming to an early close on Monday, data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (Cams) shows.