Ozone Depletion at the Poles: The Hole Story Emerges
Last August, in the dark of the Antarctic winter, more than 100 scientists descended to the southern tip of the globe, some to monitor the stratosphere from airplanes flying high above Antarctica, others to sample it with balloons and remote sensing equipment from ground stations on the continent. T...
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craippubl:10.1063/1.2811491 2024-02-11T09:58:18+01:00 Ozone Depletion at the Poles: The Hole Story Emerges Levi, Barbara Goss 1988 http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2811491 https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article-pdf/41/7/17/8300286/17_1_online.pdf en eng AIP Publishing Physics Today volume 41, issue 7, page 17-21 ISSN 0031-9228 1945-0699 General Physics and Astronomy journal-article 1988 craippubl https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2811491 2024-01-26T09:42:46Z Last August, in the dark of the Antarctic winter, more than 100 scientists descended to the southern tip of the globe, some to monitor the stratosphere from airplanes flying high above Antarctica, others to sample it with balloons and remote sensing equipment from ground stations on the continent. The massive assault was an urgent effort to determine the cause of the ozone hole—the depletion of ozone in the lower stratosphere that has occurred with increasing severity each spring since the mid-1970s. After analyzing their data, these scientists reconvened last May in Snowmass, Colorado, to present for the first time all the details of their findings. The extensive new data leave no doubt that man-made chlorofluorocarbons are primarily responsible for the ozone hole. They elucidate more clearly than ever before the unique wintertime meteorological conditions that allow chlorine compounds from these CFCs to destroy virtually all the ozone in the lower stratosphere over the Antarctic: The ice clouds that form in the dry, frigid stratosphere seem to facilitate chemical reactions that free chlorine atoms from those compounds in which they are normally trapped. The freed chlorine atoms can then ravage the ozone. Although this general hypothesis was gaining wide support even before the recent expedition, the new data put it on firmer grounds and allow the specialists to start filling in the details. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica AIP Publishing Antarctic Freed ENVELOPE(164.333,164.333,-71.483,-71.483) The Antarctic Physics Today 41 7 17 21 |
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English |
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General Physics and Astronomy |
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General Physics and Astronomy Levi, Barbara Goss Ozone Depletion at the Poles: The Hole Story Emerges |
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General Physics and Astronomy |
description |
Last August, in the dark of the Antarctic winter, more than 100 scientists descended to the southern tip of the globe, some to monitor the stratosphere from airplanes flying high above Antarctica, others to sample it with balloons and remote sensing equipment from ground stations on the continent. The massive assault was an urgent effort to determine the cause of the ozone hole—the depletion of ozone in the lower stratosphere that has occurred with increasing severity each spring since the mid-1970s. After analyzing their data, these scientists reconvened last May in Snowmass, Colorado, to present for the first time all the details of their findings. The extensive new data leave no doubt that man-made chlorofluorocarbons are primarily responsible for the ozone hole. They elucidate more clearly than ever before the unique wintertime meteorological conditions that allow chlorine compounds from these CFCs to destroy virtually all the ozone in the lower stratosphere over the Antarctic: The ice clouds that form in the dry, frigid stratosphere seem to facilitate chemical reactions that free chlorine atoms from those compounds in which they are normally trapped. The freed chlorine atoms can then ravage the ozone. Although this general hypothesis was gaining wide support even before the recent expedition, the new data put it on firmer grounds and allow the specialists to start filling in the details. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Levi, Barbara Goss |
author_facet |
Levi, Barbara Goss |
author_sort |
Levi, Barbara Goss |
title |
Ozone Depletion at the Poles: The Hole Story Emerges |
title_short |
Ozone Depletion at the Poles: The Hole Story Emerges |
title_full |
Ozone Depletion at the Poles: The Hole Story Emerges |
title_fullStr |
Ozone Depletion at the Poles: The Hole Story Emerges |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ozone Depletion at the Poles: The Hole Story Emerges |
title_sort |
ozone depletion at the poles: the hole story emerges |
publisher |
AIP Publishing |
publishDate |
1988 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2811491 https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article-pdf/41/7/17/8300286/17_1_online.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(164.333,164.333,-71.483,-71.483) |
geographic |
Antarctic Freed The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Freed The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_source |
Physics Today volume 41, issue 7, page 17-21 ISSN 0031-9228 1945-0699 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2811491 |
container_title |
Physics Today |
container_volume |
41 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
17 |
op_container_end_page |
21 |
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1790593921466761216 |