Massive 2022 eruption reduced ozone levels
The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano changed the chemistry, dynamics of Earth’s stratosphere
The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano changed the chemistry, dynamics of Earth’s stratosphere
A new paper in Nature Geoscience written by an international team of scientists led by Dr. Luke Western of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows that atmospheric abundances and emissions of five chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) increased between 2010 and 2020, despite the 2010 Montreal Protocol that banned CFC production for dispersive use.
A UMD alum and professor co-authored a paper about the reduction in the thickness of Earth’s protective ozone layer that followed the Australian wildfires.
Research conducted by ESSIC/AOSC scientist Ross J. Salawitch is featured in a new Washington Post article on the North Pole ozone hole that formed last year.
In 1986, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), chemical compounds known to break down ozone in the atmosphere, were banned by the Montreal Protocol. This led to an immediate rapid decline in emissions. However, recent studies have shown that CFC-11 emissions have increased, suggesting a contribution from eastern Asia.
ESSIC Visiting Assistant Research Scientist Ryan M. Stauffer is a co-author on a report that discovered that the COVID-19 crisis reduced tropospheric ozone across the Northern Hemisphere.
A large ozone hole has opened up above the Arctic, its size rivaling the famous Antarctic ozone hole that forms in the southern hemisphere each year.