What's the story with the ozone hole? Nobody talks about it anymore. What's going on? - Ask Scarlett

Ranger Rick, July, 1997

Well, the "hole" hasn't gone away. In fact, it's bigger than ever in some places at certain times of the year. Maybe you don't hear so much about it because it's a problem that's been around for a while. It's also a problem that people have been working on and are starting to solve. The bad news is, the problem will get worse before it gets better.

That's because a lot of pol- luting chemicals are already in the atmosphere. These will keep damaging the ozone layer for many, many years. The good news is, we've quit using as many of these chemicals. So scientists think that, by the year 2000, the ozone layer should already be on the mend.