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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 5, NUMBER 9, SEPTEMBER 1992

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
STRATOSPHERIC OZONE: TRENDS

Item #d92sep37

"The Changing Stratosphere," M.B. McElroy (Dept. Earth Sci., Harvard Univ., Cambridge MA 02138), Plan. Space Sci., 40(2-3), 373-401, Feb.-Mar. 1992.

Begins with a detailed review of the chemistry of springtime Antarctic ozone depletion, including some discussion of midlatitude processes. Then discusses implications for climate of changes in the abundance of ozone in the tropical lower stratosphere. The relatively warm climates of the Eocene and Cretaceous periods and the cold climates of the recent glacial epochs may be associated with shallower and deeper stratospheres, respectively, and with fluctuations in the Hadley circulation. Lower stratospheric ozone levels may be influenced by levels of CO₂.

Item #d92sep38

"Ozone Depletion in the Upper Atmosphere Estimated from Satellite and Space Shuttle Data," E. Hilsenrath (NASA-Goddard, Greenbelt MD 20771), R.P. Cebula, C.H. Jackman, Nature, 358(6382), 131-133, July 9, 1992.

While ozone losses due to heterogeneous reactions involving chlorine and bromine are greatest in the lower stratosphere (near 20 km), the question of depletion in the upper stratosphere (near 45 km) has been unresolved. This paper shows that ozone concentration at the latter level has decreased over the 1980s by about 7%, with implications for the radiative properties of the upper atmosphere.

Item #d92sep39

"Comparisons of Observed Ozone and Temperature Trends in the Lower Stratosphere," A.J. Miller (NOAA Clim. Analysis Ctr., 5200 Auth Rd., Washington DC 20233), Geophys. Res. Lett., 19(9), 929-932, May 4, 1992.

Uses a 62-station set of rawindsonde observations to compare negative trends in stratospheric ozone from 1970 with trends in temperature at the same altitude, and compares results to changes in temperature determined from a radiative equilibrium model. Calculated and observed trends agree in shape and magnitude.

Item #d92sep40

"Revision of 20 Years of Dobson Total Ozone Data at Uccle (Belgium): Fictitious Dobson Total Ozone Trends Induced by Sulfur Dioxide Trends," D. De Muer (Belgian Meteor. Inst., Ringlaan 3, B-1180, Brussels), H. De Backer, J. Geophys. Res., 97(D5), 5921-5937, Apr. 20, 1992.

Careful processing of Dobson data at Uccle shows that an approximate revision to data used in the report of the International Ozone Trends Panel is not reliable. Further analysis shows that a trend of increasing SO2 over the past two decades has introduced a fictitious downward total ozone trend over that period; this factor must be considered in any study of global ozone trends from Dobson data.

Item #d92sep41

"Stratospheric Ozone Profile and Total Ozone Trends Derived from the SAGE I and SAGE II Data," M.P. McCormick (NASA-Langley, Hampton VA 23665), R.E. Veiga, W.P. Chu, Geophys. Res. Lett., 19(3), 269-272, Feb. 7, 1992.

Statistical analysis of data for the period 1979-1991 shows that the trend in column ozone above 17 km is nearly zero at the tropics, but is -0.6% per year at 60--S and -0.35% per year at 60--N. Most column ozone loss occurs between 17 and 20 km.