Climate Change and Recovering Ozone Hole Could Mean More Ozone Pollution
02.07.2010 - Atmosphere & Space, Antarctic
The ozone hole over Antarctica appears to be recovering from damage caused by man-made ozone-depleting chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). But according to research published in Geophysical Research Letters, climate change might change wind patterns and send ozone from the stratosphere 9.6 to 50 km up where it normally resides, protecting living organisms on Earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation, down to the surface of the Earth.
International efforts such as the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which phased out the use of CFCs, have helped the ozone hole start to repair itself. Yet according to a study by Guang Zeng and colleagues at New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research indicates that the recovery along with climate change may also have negative consequences.
The study shows that variations in atmospheric circulation caused by climate change will cause a 43% increase in gas exchange between the stratosphere, where the ozone lies, and the troposphere, the lowest part of the atmosphere where we live. As the ozone becomes replenished in the stratosphere, there will be more opportunities for it to enter the air we breathe (ozone is a major pollutant that can cause respiratory problems).According to Zeng’s computer model, if CO2 emissions increase as expected, the ozone layer will cool, which will blur the temperature boundary that separates the ozone layer from the troposphere, causing more ozone than ever to surge into our air.
