MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ozone hole directly over Magallanes Region

Last week end and for two days Magallanes Region was directly under the ozone layer hole, according to Claudio Casiccia an expert on the subject from the University of Magallanes in Punta Arenas.

"This is the second phenomenon of this kind this year and is directly related to the thinning of the ozone layer, which normally occurs in spring time", said Mr. Casiccia.

During the last weekend the exposure rate was down to 150 Dobson units, well below the 300 considered "normal".

However by mid week, according to Mr. Casiccia, the situation was back to normal with University of Magallanes readings recording 310 Dobson units and a moderate Ultra Violet radiation.

Mr. Casiccia also revealed that the joint ozone research with the Brazilian Space Agency with balloons was going on successfully.

"We began last October 6 and have been letting off two per day since then, regularly, in spite of strong winds on some days".

Mr. Casiccia forecasted that sometime towards the end of the month or early November "we could be experiencing a similar phenomenon, this time covering the Chilean and Argentine Patagonia, because of the expansion of the ozone hole"