Antarctic ozone hole shrunk significantly last year: NASA
Good news for the planet: the Antarctic ozone hole in 2025 was the fifth smallest since 1992, according to NASA and NOAA.
The average size last year (2025) was about 7.2 million square miles, thanks to global action that's cut down harmful chemicals in our atmosphere.
Hole peaked in late September
The 2025 hole's average peak depletion was roughly 7.23 million square miles (per source).
The hole began breaking up nearly three weeks earlier than usual — the earliest it's wrapped up since 2019.
Montreal Protocol's impact
The Montreal Protocol has helped lower ozone-depleting substances in the stratosphere by about a third from their peak years.
As noted, the 2025 hole would have been larger if stratospheric chlorine were as high as decades earlier.
Warmer temperatures and a weaker polar vortex also likely played a role in 2025.
Why does this matter?
The ozone layer protects us from UV rays that can cause skin cancer and harm ocean life.
If we keep up these efforts, scientists expect Antarctic ozone levels could bounce back to what they were in the '80s by around 2066.