Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2014

Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer: 2014 Update

Content

Authors, Reviewers and Contributors

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Introduction

Figure Intro-1 [eps] [high resolution jpg]

1. Ozone in our atmosphere
1. What is ozone and where is it in the atmosphere?
   Figure Q1-1 [eps] [high resolution jpg]
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2. How is ozone formed in the atmosphere?
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3. Why do we care about atmospheric ozone?
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4. How is total ozone uniform over the globe?
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5. How is ozone measured in the atmosphere?
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2. The ozone depletion process
6. How do emissions of halogen source gases lead to stratospheric ozone depletion?
   Figure Q6-1 [eps] [high resolution jpg]
7. What emissions from human activities lead to ozone depletion?
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8. What are the reactive halogen gases that destroy stratospheric ozone?
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   Figure Q8-2 [eps] [high resolution jpg]
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9. What are the chlorine and bromine reactions that destroy stratospheric ozone?
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10. Why has an "ozone hole" appeared over Antarctica when ozone-depleting substances
     are present throughout the stratosphere?
    Figure Q10-1 [eps] [high resolution jpg]
    Figure Q10-2 [tif] [high resolution jpg]
3. Stratospheric ozone depletion
11. How severe is the depletion of the Antarctic ozone layer?
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12. Is there depletion of the Arctic ozone layer?
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13. How large is the depletion of the global ozone layer?
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14. Do changes in the Sun and volcanic eruptions affect the ozone layer?
    Figure Q14-1 [eps] [high resolution jpg]
4. Controlling ozone-depleting substances
15. Are there controls on the production of ozone-depleting substances?
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16. Has the Montreal Protocol been successful in reducing ozone-depleting substances
     in the atmosphere?
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5. Implications of ozone depletion and the Montreal Protocol
17. Does depletion of the ozone layer increase ground-level ultraviolet radiation? <
    Figure Q17-1 [eps] [high resolution jpg]
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18. Is depletion of the ozone layer the principal cause of climate change?
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19. Have reductions of ozone-depleting substances under the Montreal Protocol
     also protected Earth's climate?
    Figure Q19-1 [eps] [high resolution jpg]
    Figure Q19-2 [eps] [high resolution jpg]
6. Stratospheric ozone in the future
20. How is ozone expected to change in the coming decades?
    Figure Q20-1 [eps] [high resolution jpg]
    Figure Q20-2 [eps] [high resolution jpg]
    Figure Q20-3 [eps] [high resolution jpg]

Additional Topics

• Global Ozone Network - end of Question 5
• Understanding Stratospheric Ozone Depletion - end of Question 6
• The Discovery of the Antarctic Ozone Hole - end of Question 10
• The 2002 Antarctic Ozone Hole - end of Question 11
• Initial Signs of Ozone Recovery - end of Question 13
• The Antarctic Ozone Hole and Southern Hemisphere Surface Climate - end of Question 18