Source: Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Summary:
Extraordinarily cold temperatures in the winter of 2010/2011 caused the most massive destruction of the ozone layer above the Arctic so far: The mechanisms leading to the first ozone hole above the North Pole have now been investigated.
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Extraordinarily cold temperatures in the winter of 2010/2011 caused the most massive destruction of the ozone layer above the Arctic so far: The mechanisms leading to the first ozone hole above the North Pole were studied by scientists of the KIT Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK). According to these studies, further cooling of the ozone layer may enhance the influence of ozone-destroying substances, e.g. chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), such that repeated occurrence of an ozone hole above the Arctic has to be expected.
About a year ago, IMK scientists, together with colleagues from Oxford, detected that ozone degradation above the Arctic for the first time reached an extent comparable to that of the ozone hole above the South Pole. Then, the KIT researchers studied the mechanisms behind. Their results have now been published in the journal "Geophysical Research Letters."
According to IMK studies, occurrence of the Arctic ozone hole was mainly due to the extraordinarily cold temperatures in the ozone layer that is located at about 18 km height in the stratosphere, i.e. the second layer of Earth's atmosphere. There, chlorine compounds originating from chlorofluorocarbons (CFC, e.g. greenhouse gases and refrigerants) and other pollutants are converted chemically at temperatures below -78°C. These chemical conversion products attack the ozone layer and destroy it partly. One of the main statements in the study: If the trend to colder temperatures in the stratosphere observed in the past decades will continue, repeated occurrence of an Arctic ozone hole has to be expected.
The team of IMK researchers analyzed measurements of the chemical composition of the atmosphere by the MIPAS satellite instrument developed by KIT. In addition, model calculations were made to determine concrete effects of further cooling of the ozone layer. "We found that further decrease in temperature by just 1°C would be sufficient to cause a nearly complete destruction of the Arctic ozone layer in certain areas," says Dr. Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, main author of the study. Observations over the past thirty years indicate that the stratosphere in cold Arctic winters cooled down by about 1°C per decade on the average. According to Sinnhuber, further development of the ozone layer will consequently be influenced also by climate change. He points out that the increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will warm up the bottom air layers near the ground due to the reflection of part of the thermal radiation by the bottom layer of the atmosphere towards Earth's surface, but also result in a cooling of the air layers of the stratosphere above, where the ozone layer is located.
After the first discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole in the mid-1980s, CFCs were rapidly identified to be the cause and their use was prohibited by the Montreal Protocol of 1987. However, it will take decades until these substances will have been removed completely from the atmosphere. "Future cooling of the stratosphere would enhance and extend the impacts of these substances on the ozone layer," says Dr. Björn-Martin Sinnhuber. It is now necessary to study potential feedbacks on climate change.
The present study is embedded in long-term programs of IMK in this field. In December, the researchers started a new measurement campaign in the Arctic ozone layer in Northern Sweden using a high-altitude aircraft. Again, they encountered extraordinarily low temperatures. However, it is not yet possible to predict whether temperatures will be low enough over a longer term to cause a comparably large degradation of ozone in this winter.
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NEW TROPICS OZONE HOLE IS 7 TIMES BIGGER THAN ANTARCTIC HOLE, STUDY SAYS
Published on Jul. 6, 2022, Isabella O'Malley, M.Env.Sc, Reporter
The horse latitudes, which are roughly 30°N and 30°S of the equator, are regions characterized by winds and little precipitation.
(NOAA)
A study published by Qing-Bin Lu, a scientist from the University of Waterloo, reports that a “large and all-season ozone hole” has been detected over the tropics (30°N–30°S) and has been in existence since the 1980s.
The study stated that the tropical ozone hole has a comparable depth to the springtime Antarctic hole, but has an area that is seven times larger.
Analysis of tropical ozone data for each decade from 1960-2010 revealed that a “deep and large” tropical ozone hole was present in the 1980s and reached its maximum size in the 2000s with an 80 per cent loss of ozone at the centre of the hole. By 2010 the tropical hole became slightly smaller.
There are a number of reasons why so many decades passed before scientists confirmed the presence of the tropical ozone hole. There is a lower amount of ozone that is distributed throughout the tropical lower stratosphere, which is why declining ozone levels in this region went undetected in data measurements of total ozone.
Additionally, the tropical ozone layer is in a different region of the stratosphere than where the polar holes are found, and the thinning that was occurring did not meet the conventional definition of an official ozone hole.
High levels of UV rays travel through thin regions of the ozone layer, which is hazardous to human health. The U.N. estimates that the Montreal Protocol has prevented millions of additional cases of melanoma, other cancers, and eye cataracts.
The Montreal Protocol, an agreement signed by 197 countries in 1987 to regulate and ban ozone-depleting substances (ODS), has effectively reduced ODS emissions. However, Lu noted that the Arctic ozone hole in 2020 reached a record-breaking size and particularly deep ozone holes have persisted in Antarctica in 2020 and 2021.
The study stated that the tropical ozone hole varies closely with atmospheric levels of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a type of ODS, which is evidence that tropical ozone thinning originates from a CFC-related mechanism.
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“The whole-year large tropical ozone hole could cause a great global concern as it can lead to increases in ground-level ultraviolet radiation and affect 50 per cent of the Earth’s surface area, which is home to approximately 50 per cent of the world’s population,” Lu stated in the study.
“Exposure to enhanced [UV] levels could increase the incidence of skin cancer and cataracts in humans, weaken human immune systems, decrease agricultural productivity, and negatively affect sensitive aquatic organisms and ecosystems,” the study concluded.
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