Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 10 February 1989:
Vol. 243. no. 4892, pp. 763 - 770
DOI: 10.1126/science.243.4892.763
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Changing Composition of the Global Stratosphere

Michael B. McElroy 1 and Ross J. Salawitch 1

1 Harvard University, Division of Applied Sciences, and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Cambridge, MA 02138

The current understanding of stratospheric chemistry is reviewed with particular attention to the influence of human activity. Models are in good agreement with measurements for a variety of species in the mid-latitude stratosphere, with the possible exception of ozone (O3) at high altitude. Rates calculated for loss of O3 exceed rates for production by about 40 percent at 40 kilometers, indicating a possible but as yet unidentified source of high-altitude O3. The rapid loss of O3 beginning in the mid-1970s at low altitudes over Antarctica in the spring is due primarily to catalytic cycles involving halogen radicals. Reactions on surfaces of polar stratospheric clouds play an important role in regulating the abundance of these radicals. Similar effects could occur in northern polar regions and in cold regions of the tropics. It is argued that the Antarctic phenomenon is likely to persist: prompt drastic reduction in the emission of industrial halocarbons is required if the damage to stratospheric O3 is to be reversed.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Fallacy of "Green Technology".
B. R. ALLENBY (2000)
American Behavioral Scientist 44, 213-228
   Abstract »    PDF »
Environmental Security: Concept and Implementation.
B. R. Allenby (2000)
International Political Science Review/ Revue internationale de science pol 21, 5-21
   Abstract »    PDF »
A Reevaluation of the Ozone Budget with HALOE UARS Data: No Evidence for the Ozone Deficit.
P. J. Crutzen, J. -U. Grooss, C. Bruhl, R. Muller, and J. M. Russell III (1995)
Science 268, 705-708
   Abstract »    PDF »
Interhemispheric Differences in Polar Stratospheric HNO3, H2O, CIO, and O3.
M. L. Santee, W. G. Read, J. W. Waters, L. Froidevaux, G. L. Manney, D. A. Flower, R. F. Jarnot, R. S. Harwood, and G. E. Peckham (1995)
Science 267, 849-852
   Abstract »    PDF »
Chemical Loss of Ozone in the Arctic Polar Vortex in the Winter of 1991-1992.
R. J. Salawitch, S. C. Wofsy, E. W. Gottlieb, L. R. Lait, P. A. Newman, M. R. Schoeberl, M. Loewenstein, J. R. Podolske, S. E. Strahan, M. H. Proffitt, et al. (1993)
Science 261, 1146-1149
   Abstract »    PDF »
Stratospheric Hydroperoxyl Measurements.
W. A. Traub, D. G. Johnson, and K. V. Chance (1990)
Science 247, 446-449
   Abstract »    PDF »
Rate of formation of the ClO dimer in the polar stratosphere: implications for ozone loss.
S. Sander, R. Friedl, and Y. Yung (1989)
Science 245, 1095-1098
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)