Oh That’s My Zone

Rather than focusing on a threat to climate change, I thought it would be nice to focus on something positive- the effects of reducing behaviors that are harmful to the atmosphere. Australian researchers have detected a recovery in ozone levels in the Antarctic Region. This detection is occurring 22 years after the Montreal Protocal ban on CFCs came into effect. Although this is exciting news, these researchers continuously have years in which the levels of the ozone fluctuate. This is confusing, making it difficult to track any progress. However, a recent study done by Murry Salby shows that this fluctuation is nothing to be concerned about. Salby and his team have credited this fluctuation to a certain pattern of weather known as dynamical forcing.

In the years when dynamical forcing is strong during the winter, more ice crystals form in the atmosphere. They then “form the surface on which chlorine destroys ozone, catalyzed by sunlight returning to the Antarctic during the spring” (Crow). With this discovery, it is easier to understand what is occurring in the atmosphere and why the ozone is not gradually healing. It is predicted that in 2085, the ozone levels will still fluctuate down to 1980 levels. This shows that the progress is slow and unstable. However, this study also shows that watching what we put into the atmosphere can save our ozone layer.

A good note to end on would be one of motivation for humans to be cautious of these things. Salby highlights that “the increase in ozone levels revealed by the calculations closely mirror the decrease in the levels of anthropogenic chlorine in the region” (Crow).

If you're anything like me, a definition wouldn't hurt
Courtesy of Google

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Article by James Mitchell Crow http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=first-signs-of-ozone-hole-recovery-spotted