Ozone layer recovery reaches levels not seen for decades
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The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported that the ozone layer over Antarctica was unusually small in 2025, reaching sizes not seen since the early 1990s. Both its horizontal extent and vertical depth were notably lower than the average from 1990 to 2010.
The WMO attributes this positive trend to the 1987 Montreal Protocol, an agreement that gradually banned harmful substances like chlorofluorocarbons.
WMO chief Celeste Saulo described the recovery as an environmental success story, stating that the ozone layer has been healing since 2000 and is expected to fully recover in the coming decades. The ozone layer protects people and the planet from dangerous ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun, which can cause skin cancer.
While the Arctic also shows a long-term trend of ozone layer recovery, Paolo Laj, head of the WMO’s atmospheric observation program, noted that ozone values decreased in some areas of the Northern Hemisphere in 2025 due to other weather patterns. However, this did not form a hole like the one over Antarctica, but rather a temporary thinning effect.
In parts of Europe, UV radiation has increased by up to 20 percent since the mid-1990s, primarily because of fewer clouds and increased sunshine, prompting the WMO to emphasize the importance of effective UV protection measures.
