Stratospheric Ozone Depletion and Recovery and Antarctic Climate Change
- Lead PI: Michael Previdi , Professor Lorenzo Polvani
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Unit Affiliation: Ocean and Climate Physics, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO)
- April 2014 - March 2017
- Inactive
- Antarctica ; Southern Ocean
- Project Type: Research
DESCRIPTION: An array of observational and modeling studies in recent years have demonstrated that stratospheric ozone depletion and recovery caused by human activity significantly affect the Antarctic climate system. Several questions remain, however, regarding the impact of ozone changes on the Antarctic region. These questions are addressed in this project, and pertain to ozone effects on 1) surface temperature; 2) cloud cover; 3) sea ice; and 4) ice sheet mass balance. The primary objective, therefore, is to better understand how past ozone depletion and future ozone recovery have and will affect these four key aspects of Antarctic climate. The approach employed consists of a series of carefully designed climate model experiments, combined with analyses of observations.
OUTCOMES: This project has advanced our understanding of how the Antarctic climate responds to anthropogenic changes in stratospheric ozone. This has enhanced our ability to interpret observed Antarctic change in recent decades during the period of ozone depletion, and will permit more confident projections for the coming decades during the period of ozone recovery.