GIGANTIC solar storms destroyed nearly 60 per cent of the ozone above the Arctic during the spring of 2004.
The ozone, which shields us from harmful ultraviolet radiation, lies mostly in the lower and mid-stratosphere. Man-made chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have been mainly responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer. Now, Cora Randall of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder and her colleagues have used data collected from seven satellites to show that a record barrage of charged particles from the sun in October and November 2003 also destroyed large…
