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Dramatic loss of ozone in the lower stratosphere over Antarctica was first noticed in the 1970s by a research group from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS)
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Over Antarctica (and recently over the Arctic), stratospheric ozone has been depleted over the last 15 years at certain times of the year.
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The British Antarctic Survey's first documentation of the Antarctic ozone hole
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The Dobson Unit (DU) is the unit of measure for total ozone.
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The ozone is created when ultraviolet radiation (sunlight) strikes the stratosphere, dissociating (or "splitting") oxygen molecules (O2) to atomic oxygen (O).
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The atomic oxygen quickly combines with further oxygen molecules to form ozone:
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Ozone is also destroyed by the following reaction: O + O3 ->O2 + O2
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NSF-funded study of the phenomenon alerted the world to the danger of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs.