ozone hole

ozone hole (plural ozone holes)

1. A region of the stratosphere over Antarctica (and a smaller one over the Arctic) that is depleted of ozone in the local spring.
   • 1986 November 6, “Air chemists braced for battle over ozone hole”, in New Scientist, page 22:

     Callis says that the ozone hole now developing over the Antarctic is as deep as last year's hole, but seems to cover a smaller area.

   • 2010, Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway, chapter 4, in Merchants of Doubt:

     When [Richard] Stolarski double-checked, he found that the depleted region covered all of Antarctica—and the “ozone hole” was born. It wasn't an instrument error. It was a real phenomenon.

• ODS

• ozone depletion on Wikipedia.Wikipedia