The largest arctic ozone hole ever recorded, that formed over the Arctic, has reportedly closed on Thursday, Apr.23. Scientists at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), who were tracking the unprecedented hole, announced its closure this spring.

Researchers state the reason of the closure has nothing to do with the coronavirus pandemic, global warming or climate change. A simply reason for the closure has to do with the weather. (CAMS) monitored the rather unusual ozone depletion that formed over the Arctic this spring. Ozone holes are more common over the Antarctic every year. According to CAMS, however “the conditions needed for such strong ozone depletion are not normally found in the Northern Hemisphere.”

CAMS reports that the Arctic stratosphere is frequently less isolated than its Antarctic counterpart. For that reason the presence of nearby land masses and mountain ranges disturbs the weather patterns more than in the Southern Hemisphere.

This year however, a particularly strong polar vortex led to the Arctic ozone hole. In which most of the ozone typically found around eleven miles into the stratosphere depleted. The last time such a strong depletion seen in the Arctic was nearly ten years ago

Why did it happen this year?

The main reason of the closure of the hole could be simply a natural occurring process. The behavior of the ozone and the stratospheric polar vortex during the winter into spring. Reports state that the coldest and strongest polar vortex in the stratosphere and the lowest concentration of ozone over the Arctic are more likely to happen when a combination of a  solar minimum.

A polar vortex that stood above the polar region without weakening and a strong positive phase of the Arctic Oscillation.Also, among a combination of factors that led the contiguous U.S. to experience higher than normal temperature from Dec.2019 through Feb.2020.