The worsening situation has so alarmed Chilean officials that, for the first time ever, they are demanding help from the international community to help finance research on the effects of ozone depletion on ecosystems and human health. Chile's ambassador to the United Nations, Juan Gabriel Valdes, is addressing the U.N. General Assembly on the issue this month.

But Chilean officials are concerned because asking for assistance affronts their pride and sense of self-sufficiency. "I am not like the guy in 'Jerry Maguire,' saying, 'Show me the money! Show me the money!'" says Rodrigo Alvarez, a congressman for the Magallanes region, where Punta Arenas is located. "This is a problem that we didn't create. There is an international responsibility to this southern region -- Australia, Argentina, Chile. The [ozone hole] was created by the whole world."

The ozone layer lies in the stratosphere more than 10 miles above the Earth's surface. Because it absorbs most of the sun's sometimes deadly, DNA-destroying ultraviolet B radiation, or UVB, it enabled life as we know it to thrive on earth. "It's like a bulletproof vest -- if you start thinning out the lead, you let more bullets through," says Ed DeFabo, research professor of dermatology at George Washington University Medical Center and chairman of the International Arctic Science Committee's panel that examines the impacts of increased UVB radiation.

Scientists discovered the hole in the ozone layer -- more accurately, a thinning of the layer -- in 1982. They linked it to the widespread use of manmade chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) in such products as aerosol sprays, refrigerants and solvents. Once released, these substances rise to the stratosphere, where the sunlight causes them to break apart into chlorine and other elements. In the Southern Hemisphere, the depletion occurs largely in the spring because rising temperatures and the presence of ice crystals atop the polar stratospheric clouds facilitate complex chemical reactions between ozone molecules and the CFC and HCFC components.

In 1997, more than 140 countries signed the Montreal Protocol, in which they agreed to phase out the use of these chemicals. However, because the CFCs and HCFCs can take years to rise high enough to start causing the damage, scientists believe that it will be decades before the ozone layer can replenish itself and return to normal.

More recently, however, evidence has mounted that global warming, not just the CFCs and HCFCs, can also cause ozone depletion. Virtually all members of the reputable scientific community believe that much of the current trend of global warming can be attributed to human use of non-renewable sources of energy. And they believe that many of the bizarre ecological and climatic phenomena of the past few years -- the record high temperatures and the shrinking of the polar ice caps, for example -- can be attributed to global warming.

The situation is not likely to improve any time soon. According to a report released recently by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, average global temperatures could rise as much as 11 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century. That also means that ozone depletion could get worse -- much worse -- before it gets better.

"This could mean a truly torrid world in many areas and frightful extremes of weather," says Arjun Makhijani, president of the Maryland-based Institute for Energy and Environmental Research.

So far the problem has mostly affected large swaths of the Southern Hemisphere. In some ways the situation might ultimately be worse in places like Australia and New Zealand, where higher temperatures prompt people to spend more time outdoors wearing far fewer clothes. But some researchers ominously predict "ozone hole creep" as the century progresses. Jonathan Shanklin, one of the scientists who discovered the Antarctic hole, announced just last week that a second hole above the Arctic, which has generally been smaller than the one over the southern pole, could grow to the same size by 2020 because of global warming.

Some scientists also fear that there could be increased ozone thinning across the globe, not just at the poles. This could be particularly dangerous for places like Miami and San Diego, since regions closer to the equator already experience relatively high natural levels of UVB radiation even without ozone depletion. But double doses from a thinning ozone layer could push these sun-belt cities well into the danger zone.

Given the stark differences in environmental policy between the two presidential candidates, next week's election could have a significant impact on the situation. Though President George Bush memorably mocked Al Gore as "Ozone Man" during the 1992 campaign because of Gore's long-standing interest in the environment, the fate of the ozone layer itself has not been an issue in the current presidential race. But global warming has entered the debate.

Gore has pledged to sign the 1997 Kyoto Treaty, which calls for countries to reduce their use of fossil fuel to stem global warming and is the subject of a gathering of world leaders in The Hague later this month. Texas Gov. George W. Bush opposes the treaty and maintains -- against virtually all the available evidence -- that the jury is still out on the causes and impact of global warming.