WABI interviews Laatsch about ozone layer preservation
Shawn Laatsch, director of the Emera Astronomy Center and Maynard F. Jordan Planetarium at the University of Maine, spoke with WABI (Channel 5) on Sept. 16, the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, which was was established in 1994 by the United Nations. He spoke about how satellites monitoring the Earth’s ozone discovered a large, growing hole at the South Pole in the 1980s. “For quite some time in Australia when kids went outside they had to wear full coverings even in summer because there is so much ultraviolet radiation coming through they were at increased risk of skin cancer and skin cancer numbers went up,” Laatsch said. Governments banded together to find what was causing the problem, according to the report. Elements called chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs, which are used in aerosols or refrigerants, were found to be harming the ozone, he said. The reduction of CFCs over time have led to improvements, according to the report. “We started to see a small hole starting at the North Pole as well and again, that’s pretty much closed up at this point, and the one at the Southern hemisphere has been healing at least as of this last year,” he said.