Antarctic Ozone Hole, October 1999

This page contains archived content and is no longer being updated. At the time of publication, it represented the best available science.

Historically, the Antarctic ozone hole is largest during the month of October. This image shows the latest data from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) Earth Probe, for the month of October 1999. Values below 150 Dobson Units (bright blue) are considered extremely low.

Ozone palette

For more information, please visit:
September Ozone Hole
Ozone Fact Sheet
TOMS Project

Images by Robert Simmon, Research and Professional Services

This image shows the latest data from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) Earth Probe, for the month of October 1999.

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Ozone Hole through the years

This series of images shows the Antarctic ozone hole on the day of its maximum depletion in 1979, 1987, 2006, and 2010; that is, the days with the thinnest ozone layer.

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Ozone Hole is Smallest Since 1988

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Ozone’s Long Path to Recovery

Does a smaller hole mean that Antarctic ozone is recovering? Not yet, say NASA scientists. A deeper look at the ozone hole shows that for now weather still has a bigger influence on the size of the ozone hole than policies that limited emissions of ozone-destroying chemicals.

Antarctic Ozone Hole, October 1999

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Ozone Hole through the years

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Ozone’s Long Path to Recovery

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