![Stratospheric clouds above the Arctic, like those seen here over Kiruna, Sweden, provide ideal conditions for chemical reactions that transform chlorine to a form that depletes the Earth’s protective ozone layer. New research shows that unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, climate patterns that favor the formation of such clouds will continue to accelerate ozone loss. (Photo Credit: Ross Salawitch/UMD).](https://essic.umd.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/strato-scaled.jpeg)
Rising Greenhouse Gases Pose Continued Threat to Arctic Ozone Layer
There is a race going on high in the atmosphere above the Arctic, and the ozone layer that protects Earth from damaging ultraviolet (UV) radiation will lose the race if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t reduced quickly enough.