Antarctic ozone hole. Satellite image of the ozone hole (purple) over Antarctica (centre) on 17th September 2009. Ozone layer thicknesses are colour coded from purple (lowest) through blue, cyan and green to yellow (highest). The ozone hole was at its annual maximum, covering an area of over 24 million square kilometres. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were responsible for much of the ozone depletion were phased out from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s, but the damage to the ozone didn't peak until 2006. Ozone depletion has now stabilised. Data from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite.