The ozone hole over Antarctica is slowly recovering, according to NASA & NOAA's long-term record. This year’s ozone hole was the 5th-smallest on record, reaching an annual maximum extent of 8.83 million square miles on Sept. 9, 2025. What we call the ozone hole is an annual thinning of Earth’s ozone layer over Antarctica every September. NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) researchers monitor the growth and breakup of the ozone hole with instruments aboard the Aura, S