Ozone – Global problem or not?
The ozone hole that formed in the stratosphere over Antarctica in the 1970s was a classic example of an environmental tipping point. Ozone-destroying chemicals built up in the frigid stratosphere until they abruptly – and unexpectedly – caused the ozone layer over the Antarctic to shift into a new state, with ozone all but absent in the spring. Nobody saw it coming, as nobody understood at the time that the chemistry of polar stratospheric clouds makes ozone-destroying chemicals more potent, leading to ozone destruction.
With most of chemicals now banned, the worst of the danger has passed. It is not over entirely, however. One concern is global warming. Trapping more heat close to the Earth’s surface leaves the stratosphere colder so this means that the Arctic stratosphere could get cold enough in coming years for the remaining ozone eating chemicals in the atmosphere to open up an ozone hole over the northern continents.
Away from the poles we look safe, unless there is some unknown quirk of atmospheric chemistry waiting to trip us up. Researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany recommend preventing stratospheric ozone concentrations outside the polar regions from falling by more than 5% or below a global average of 276 Dobson units (a measurement of the density of stratospheric ozone). With the concentrations of ozone destructors still falling and current level of 283 Dobson units it seems likely that we will stay within this planetary boundary.
Related posts:
- Europe on ice
- Climate change researches
- Fossil fuels and global warming – the letter
- More facts you wanted to know about global warming
- The economics of global warming
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