<P> In October 2008, the Ecuadorian Space Agency published a report called HIPERION . The study used ground instruments in Ecuador and the last 28 years' data from 12 satellites of several countries, and found that the UV radiation reaching equatorial latitudes was far greater than expected, with the UV Index climbing as high as 24 in Quito; the WHO considers 11 as an extreme index and a great risk to health . The report concluded that depleted ozone levels around the mid-latitudes of the planet are already endangering large populations in these areas . Later, the CONIDA, the Peruvian Space Agency, published its own study, which yielded almost the same findings as the Ecuadorian study . </P> <P> The main public concern regarding the ozone hole has been the effects of increased surface UV radiation on human health . So far, ozone depletion in most locations has been typically a few percent and, as noted above, no direct evidence of health damage is available in most latitudes . If the high levels of depletion seen in the ozone hole were to be common across the globe, the effects could be substantially more dramatic . As the ozone hole over Antarctica has in some instances grown so large as to affect parts of Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, and South Africa, environmentalists have been concerned that the increase in surface UV could be significant . </P> <P> Ozone depletion would magnify all of the effects of UV on human health, both positive (including production of Vitamin D) and negative (including sunburn, skin cancer, and cataracts). In addition, increased surface UV leads to increased tropospheric ozone, which is a health risk to humans . </P> <P> The most common forms of skin cancer in humans, basal and squamous cell carcinomas, have been strongly linked to UVB exposure . The mechanism by which UVB induces these cancers is well understood--absorption of UVB radiation causes the pyrimidine bases in the DNA molecule to form dimers, resulting in transcription errors when the DNA replicates . These cancers are relatively mild and rarely fatal, although the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma sometimes requires extensive reconstructive surgery . By combining epidemiological data with results of animal studies, scientists have estimated that every one percent decrease in long - term stratospheric ozone would increase the incidence of these cancers by two percent . </P>

Where is this reported hole in the ozone layer and why is it there