Ozone layer hole grows

Before you head to Antarctica for vacation, you'll need to pack a lot of sunscreen.

The ozone "hole" over the South Pole is now close to being as big as ever according to two new reports. Both the World Meteorological Organization and the European Space Agency say the stratospheric ozone hole over the South Pole has just reached its annual peak. The WMO reports the hole will expand to near 10.8 million square miles over Antarctica -- the second-largest hole in history.

In a news release dated Oct. 2, the ESA reported measurements of the amount of ozone lost over this area now topple 40 million tons, breaking the previous record ozone loss of 39 million tons in 2000. The ESA's Envisat satellite records ozone in Dobson units, which measure both the area and depth of the ozone hole. The depth of the hole is around 100 Dobson units, near the record low values observed in 1998.

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