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Ozone damage and climate change – are they related?

Global warming and ozone depletion are two distinct but inter-related issues.

  • Global warming occurs in the troposphere, or lower atmosphere. Global warming is caused by a relatively wide range of “greenhouse” gases, many of which are natural (although frequently occurring as a byproduct of human activity such as farming, and energy and industrial production).
  • The ozone layer is found in the upper atmosphere, or stratosphere. Ozone-depleting substances are a small range of man-made substances, for which alternatives are reasonably readily available.

There are some important links between global warning and ozone depletion:

  • Some products such as CFCs are greenhouse gases at lower altitudes and ozone-depleting at higher altitudes. Even ozone itself is a greenhouse gas and air pollutant at lower altitudes.
  • Some of the newer refrigerants that are less ozone-depleting are strong global warming gases. We need to make sure that when we cut out products that harm the ozone layer, we aren't just causing another set of problems elsewhere.
  • Scientists have shown that greenhouse gases such as HFCs slow the recovery of the ozone layer. The heating of air in the lower atmosphere leads to lower temperatures and slows ozone production in the upper atmosphere. Free radicals formed from the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases react with ozone, slowing down repair to the ozone layer Scientists thought that the ozone layer should repair itself by 2050. However, the increase in greenhouse gases will slow this recovery of the ozone layer by about 15-20 years.

For more information on the layers of the atmosphere visit the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) website.

For more information on climate change visit the climate change section of this website.

Last updated: 12 March 2008