Some Recent General Scientific Accomplishments in
Understanding Stratospheric Ozone Depletion and Increased UV
Radiation
- The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) has provided an
Antarctic-wide data set that characterizes, over broader spatial areas, the
polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) processes that were first revealed by airborne
measurements. PSC processes shift the balance of atmospheric chlorine toward
the more ozone-destroying forms. Because the Arctic is warmer, the formation
of polar stratospheric clouds is more localized and transient, and losses of
ozone there are less intense. However, future cooling of the stratosphere due
to increasing concentrations of certain greenhouse gases could lead to
increased polar stratospheric cloud formation, causing greater ozone depletion
over the Arctic.
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- Global atmospheric measurements continue to confirm decreases in the
growth rates in the concentrations of the ozone depleting chemicals CFC-11,
CFC-12, and several halon compounds. The rates of increase in total organic
chlorine and bromine in the troposphere have slowed significantly over the
past few years. Total stratospheric chlorine/bromine loading is expected to
peak in the late 1990s, followed by a slow recovery of the ozone layer over
the next several decades.
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- Medical research has found that increased UV radiation can act in two ways
to cause the development of cancer. UV radiation can mutate the cancer-
suppressing genes in the skin, and can also cause previously damaged skin to
produce more mutant cells. Thus, exposure to UV in sunlight can act both as a
tumor initiator and tumor enhancer. These findings increase the concern over
human exposures to increased UV radiation from ozone layer depletion.
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Last updated 04/12/96