<P> The breakdown of ozone in the stratosphere results in reduced absorption of ultraviolet radiation . Consequently , unabsorbed and dangerous ultraviolet radiation is able to reach the Earth 's surface at a higher intensity . Ozone levels have dropped by a worldwide average of about 4 percent since the late 1970s . For approximately 5 percent of the Earth 's surface , around the north and south poles , much larger seasonal declines have been seen , and are described as `` ozone holes '' . The discovery of the annual depletion of ozone above the Antarctic was first announced by Joe Farman , Brian Gardiner and Jonathan Shanklin , in a paper which appeared in Nature on May 16 , 1985 . </P>
where was it first discovered that the earths ozone layer was being depleted
Joe Farman Brian Gardiner Jonathan Shanklin