Climate Change and Atmospheric Chemistry: How Will the Stratospheric Ozone Layer Develop?

The discovery of the ozone hole over Antarctica in 1985 was a surprise for science. For a few years the reasons of the ozone hole was speculated about. Soon it was obvious that predominant meteorological conditions led to a specific situation developing in this part of the atmosphere: Very low temperatures initiate chemical processes that at the end cause extreme ozone depletion at altitudes of between about 15 and 30 km. So-called polar stratospheric clouds play a key role. Such clouds develop at temperatures below about 195 K. Heterogeneous chemical reactions on cloud particles initiate the destruction of ozone molecules. The future evolution of the ozone layer will not only depend on the further development of concentrations of ozone-depleting substances, but also significantly on climate change. Since the industrial revolution began about 150 years ago, the concentration of greenhouse gases such as CO 2 in the atmosphere has increased dramatically, with corresponding consequences for the climate. For over 25 years, destruction of the ozone layer (pink and green regions on the globe), which is caused by chlorofluorocarbons, has also been observed. The future development of the ozone layer and of the climate are closely related to each other. © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.