Two months ago, 15 scientists flew into McMurdo Station, Antarctica, to investigate a mystery: What causes a thinning in atmospheric ozone above the frigid continent, a phenomenon that has peaked each October since it was first observed in 1983? It was hardly an academic question; the ozone layer is a blanket of oxygen molecules that protects the earth's surface from the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation, a form of light just beyond the human range of vision. Speculation on the reason for these "holes" has ranged from weather patterns and solar activity to the action of man-made chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), chemicals used as...
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