The ozone hole continues to heal. Each year, it reaches an annual max extent. This year's extent was the seventh smallest since the ozone layer began recovery after the adoption of an international agreement phasing out use of ozone-depleting chemicals. | NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Healing continues in the atmosphere over the Antarctic. A hole that opens annually in the ozone layer over Earth's southern pole was relatively small in 2024 compared to other years. NOAA and NASA scientists project the ozone layer could fully recover by 2066. During the peak of ozone depletion season from September 7 through October 13, the 2024 area of the ozone hole ranked the seventh-smallest since recovery began in 1992. That’s when the Montreal Protocol, a landmark international agreement