A joint study by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) and the Bureau of Meteorology has predicted a much larger ozone hole than normal over the Antarctic this spring. Scientists conducting the study found that the hole is likely to be as much as three times the size of Australia, similar to its largest recorded size in 2000. They said that climatic conditions, combined with past chemical emissions, have made the hole grow over the last year. AAD scientist, Dr Andrew Klekociuk, said the enlargement was due to the extremely cold temperatures over the Antarctic during the winter. This causes the release of chlorine from CFC gases that destroy ozone.