EGU21-8547, updated on 04 Mar 2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-8547
EGU General Assembly 2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

The sensitivity of chemical loss of Arctic ozone to future levels of GHGs

Peter von der Gathen1, Rigel Kivi2, Ingo Wohltmann1, Ross Salawitch3, and Markus Rex1,4
Peter von der Gathen et al.
  • 1Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Research Unit Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany (Peter.von.der.Gathen@awi.de)
  • 2Finnish Meteorological Institute, Space and Earth Observation Centre, Sodankylä, Finland
  • 3Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA (rsalawit@umd.edu)
  • 4Universität Potsdam, Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Potsdam, Germany

The chemical loss of ozone during Arctic winter and spring due to anthropogenic halogens is driven by temperature at high latitudes, with more loss occurring during cold years with meteorological conditions that are favourable for formation of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs). We show that a positive, statistically significant rise in the local maxima of PSC formation potential (PFPLM), i.e. seasonal integrals of the fraction of the vortex volume below the formation temperature of PSCs, within the Northern Hemisphere polar vortex over the past four decades is apparent in data from four meteorological centres. Output from numerous General Circulation Models (GCMs) that submitted results to the CMIP5 and CMIP6 archives also exhibits positive trends in PFPLM over 1950 to 2100, with the highest values occurring at end of century for model runs driven by increasing radiative forcing of climate due to greenhouse gases (GHGs) (i.e., the RCP 8.5 scenario for CMIP5 and the SSP5-8.5 scenario for CMIP6). We combine projections of the future decline in stratospheric halogen loading and possible future increases in stratospheric humidity with GCM-based forecasts of PFP to suggest that conditions favourable for large, seasonal loss of Arctic column O3 could persist until the end of this century, especially for GCM simulations constrained by either the RCP 8.5 or SSP5-8.5 GHG scenario. Conversely, if future GHG loading follow the SSP1-2.6 scenario, conditions favourable for chemical loss of Arctic O3 are projected to decline throughout the rest of this century.

How to cite: von der Gathen, P., Kivi, R., Wohltmann, I., Salawitch, R., and Rex, M.: The sensitivity of chemical loss of Arctic ozone to future levels of GHGs, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-8547, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-8547, 2021.

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