India, Nov. 10 -- The Antarctic ozone hole reached its maximum single-day extent for the year on September 18, measuring 10.5 million square miles (27.1 million square kilometers), according to data from NASA and NOAA.
In 2026, the ozone hole ranked seventh largest by area in 48 years of monitoring, but it was not as deep as other large holes on record.
The stratospheric ozone layer protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet light, which damages DNA in plants, humans and animals, and leads to sunburns and skin cancer. In 1985, British Antarctic Survey scientists reported that Earth's natural sunscreen was thinning dramatically over Antarctica each spring. NASA satellite instruments revealed the continental scale of this Antarctic ozo...