studies on Ozone layer and its depletion

Ozone depletion describes two distinct, but related observations: a slow, steady decline of about 4 percent per decade in the total volume of ozone in Earth's stratosphere(ozone layer) since the late 1970s, and a much larger, but seasonal, decrease in stratospheric ozone over Earth's polar regions during the same period. The latter phenomenon is commonly referred to as the ozone hole. In addition to this well-known stratospheric ozone depletion, there are also troposphere ozone depletion events, which occur near the surface in Polar Regions during spring.

Recent studies on Ozone layer and its depletion:

• Lower Crop Yields Due To Ozone A Factor In World Food Crisis: Heat waves, droughts and fuel prices are just a few reasons for the current global food crisis that is making headlines around the world. New research indicates that rising background levels of ozone in the atmosphere are a likely contributor to the problem, lowering the yield of important food crops, such as wheat and soybeans.[1]
• 2008 Sees Fifth Largest Ozone Hole: The ozone hole over Antarctica, which fluctuates in response to temperature and sunlight, grew to the size of North America in a one-day maximum in September that was the fifth largest on record, since NOAA satellite records began in 1979.[2]
• Wildfires Cause Ozone Pollution To Violate Health Standards, New Study Shows: Wildfires can boost ozone pollution to levels that violate US health standards. A new study has found that California wildfires in 2007 tripled the number of ozone violations across a broad area.[3]
• 2008 Ozone Hole Larger Than Last Year: The 2008 ozone hole -- a thinning in the ozone layer over Antarctica -- is larger both in size and ozone loss than 2007 but is not as large as 2006.[4]
• Stratospheric Injections To Counter Global Warming Could Damage Ozone Layer: A much-discussed idea to offset global warming by injecting sulfates into the stratosphere would drastically affect the ozone layer. A new study warns that such an approach might delay recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole by decades and cause significant ozone loss over the Arctic.[5]
• Computer Models Show Major Climate Shift As A Result Of Closing Ozone Hole: The closing of the ozone hole, which is projected to occur sometime in the second half of the 21st century, may significantly affect climate change in the Southern Hemisphere, and therefore, the global climate, according to a new article in Science.[6]
• Ozone Hole Recovery May Reshape Southern Hemisphere Climate Change And Amplify Antarctic Warming: A full recovery of the stratospheric ozone hole could modify climate change in the southern hemisphere and even amplify Antarctic warming, according to scientists. While Earth's average surface temperatures have been increasing, the interior of Antarctica has exhibited a unique cooling trend during the austral summer and fall caused by ozone depletion, they said.[7]
• Stratospheric Ozone Chemistry Plays An Important Role For Atmospheric Airflow Patterns: Interactions between the stratospheric ozone chemistry and atmospheric air flow lead to significant changes of airflow patterns from the ground up to the stratosphere. Scientists at the Research Unit Potsdam of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research have investigated this fundamental process for climate interactions in the Arctic, and for the first time, incorporated it into climate models. Until now, it was not known what caused the natural variations of atmospheric air flow patterns which have played an important role for climate changes in the last decades.[ 8]