Jan. 31, 2013 — A hole in the Antarctic ozone
layer has changed the way that waters in the southern oceans mix, a
situation that has the potential to alter the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and eventually could have an impact on global climate change, a Johns Hopkins earth scientist says.
Subtropical intermediate waters in the southern oceans have become "younger" as the upwelling, circumpolar waters have gotten "older" -- changes that are consistent with the fact that surface winds have strengthened as the ozone layer has thinned. (Intensification of surface westerly winds, which have occurred primarily because of the Antarctic ozone hole, suggesting that stratospheric ozone depletion is the primary cause of the changes in ocean ventilation).
The southern oceans play an important role in the uptake of heat and carbon dioxide, so any changes in southern ocean circulation have the potential to change the global climate.
CFC-12 (chlorofluorocarbon-12) was first produced commercially in the 1930s and its concentration in the atmosphere increased rapidly until the 1990s when it was phased out by the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer. (Prior to the Montreal Protocol, CFC-12 was used in products such as aerosol hairsprays and refrigerants and in air conditioning systems.)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130131144106.htm
Subtropical intermediate waters in the southern oceans have become "younger" as the upwelling, circumpolar waters have gotten "older" -- changes that are consistent with the fact that surface winds have strengthened as the ozone layer has thinned. (Intensification of surface westerly winds, which have occurred primarily because of the Antarctic ozone hole, suggesting that stratospheric ozone depletion is the primary cause of the changes in ocean ventilation).
The southern oceans play an important role in the uptake of heat and carbon dioxide, so any changes in southern ocean circulation have the potential to change the global climate.
CFC-12 (chlorofluorocarbon-12) was first produced commercially in the 1930s and its concentration in the atmosphere increased rapidly until the 1990s when it was phased out by the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer. (Prior to the Montreal Protocol, CFC-12 was used in products such as aerosol hairsprays and refrigerants and in air conditioning systems.)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130131144106.htm
