We all heaved a sigh of relief when scientists announced three years ago that the depletion of the ozone layer may be slowing down due to the international ban on chlorofluorocarbons. And it was only several weeks back that we reported on the healing of the Ozone layer. But now, it seems that the celebration was a little bit too soon.

According to the European Space Agency (ESA), so far this year, the protective layer hovering 15 miles above Earth, shielding us against harmful ultraviolet rays, has lost approximately 44 million tons. This number topped the previous record of 43 million tons of ozone loss back in 2002. Says ESA Atmospheric Engineer Claus Zehner, "The extreme loss of ozone can be explained by the temperatures above Antarctica reaching the lowest record in the area since 1979."

The depletion of the ozone layer is caused mainly by free radical catalysts. Because of the imminent danger the depletion may cause to man's health, countries started to slowly exert efforts at minimizing the damage, with Sweden being the first nation to ban CFC-containing aerosol sprays in 1978. By 1985, the Antarctic Ozone hole was discovered, and as such, negotiations at the Montreal Protocol sharply limited CFC production in 1987 and phased out completely by 1996.

The ozone level has been reported to lower by about 3% every year on a global scale during the past decade, thereby increasing the risk of skin cancer, cataracts and harm to marine life.

The ozone loss for this year was determined via the Envisat satellite of ESA.