MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ozone layer hole perimeter closing in on Punta Arenas

Since Wednesday this week Punta Arenas in the extreme south of Chile has been exposed to higher levels of ultra violet radiation because the perimeter of the ozone layer hole has moved over the region.

Magallanes University Ozone and UV Monitoring Department revealed that the Dobson ozone scale had dropped to 250 units while the UV radiation index had reached 5. The head of the Magallanes Research Laboratory, Claudio Casiccia said that the ozone layer hole currently covers 22 million square kilometers, while a year ago it stood at 26 million square kilometers. "At this time of the year the ozone layer hole tends to move from the heart of Antarctica towards the continent and extreme measures must be taken", added Casiccia. Therefore it's essential for the local population to protect itself from the exposure of the sun light using caps with eyeshades, long sleeves, sun protection sprays, sun glasses and avoid unnecessary exposure. Casiccia said that this week Punta Arenas and the Magallanes Region will be exposed to a maximum UV radiation of 7 points and a low ozone concentration in the range of 220. In Chilean Tierra del Fuego, Porvenir and Puerto Williams the Dobson (density) units could drop to a very dangerous 182 to 220 units with a 7 UV radiation. In Chilean Antarctica Villa las Estrellas the Dobson unit scale is forecasted to drop even further to 162 units.