Record-Sized Ozone Hole the Subject of Public Talk at Trent University

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dr. David Tarasick to inform the community of recent discovery in the ozone layer over the Canadian Arctic

Tuesday, November 22, 2011, Peterborough

The Trent University Department of Physics & Astronomy presents Dr. David Tarasick for a public talk at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 30, in Gzowski College room 114, on the recent discovery of a record-sized hole in the ozone layer over the Canadian Arctic.

Dr. Tarasick, Trent University alumnus and senior research scientist with Environment Canada was one of four Canadian authors of an international study published on October 2, 2011 in the British scientific journal Nature. The study revealed that chemical ozone destruction over the Arctic in early 2011 was—for the first time in the observational record—comparable to that in the Antarctic ozone hole. The newly discovered hole which formed over the Arctic in February and March of this year covers two million square kilometers - almost twice the size of Ontario.

“Ozone changes in the stratosphere strongly affect surface UV radiation but could also affect the future climate,” explained Dr. Tarasik. “Understanding global ozone is therefore of great importance, as are trends and forecasting of future atmospheric ozone levels.” 

Canada’s ozone monitoring program has been described as “the backbone” of an international network, and boasts the world’s oldest ozone monitoring station, situated in Canada’s north. Says Dr. Tarasick, “Ozone research began in Canada in the 1930s, and ozone has been regularly monitored from the ground since the late 1950s, by balloon since 1966, and more recently by satellite. It was fortunate that we had a long data set when people started to notice that the ozone was changing.”

Dr. Tarasick holds an Honours B.Sc. in Physics and Mathematics from Trent University, a M.Sc. in Physics from l'Université de Montréal, and a Ph.D. in Physics from York University.

This event is free and open to the public.

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For more information, please contact: An Kosurko, communications officer, Trent University, 705-748-1011 x6182. Interviews with Dr. Tarasick must be pre-arranged with the government Media Relations office at 819-934-8008 or media@ec.gc.ca.