title: Unprecedented Arctic ozone loss in 2011.
abstract: Chemical ozone destruction occurs over both polar regions in local winter-spring. In the Antarctic, essentially complete removal of lower-stratospheric ozone currently results in an ozone hole every year, whereas in the Arctic, ozone loss is highly variable and has until now been much more limited. Here we demonstrate that chemical ozone destruction over the Arctic in early 2011 was--for the first time in the observational record--comparable to that in the Antarctic ozone hole. Unusually long-lasting cold conditions in the Arctic lower stratosphere led to persistent enhancement in ozone-destroying forms of chlorine and to unprecedented ozone loss, which exceeded 80 per cent over 18-20 kilometres altitude. Our results show that Arctic ozone holes are possible even with temperatures much milder than those in the Antarctic. We cannot at present predict when such severe Arctic ozone depletion may be matched or exceeded.
authors.affiliation: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109, USA. Gloria.L.Manney@jpl.nasa.gov
authors.forename: Gloria L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Manney
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Santee
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rex
authors.forename: Nathaniel J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Livesey
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Pitts
authors.forename: Pepijn
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Veefkind
authors.forename: Eric R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Nash
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Wohltmann
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.forename: Lucien
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Froidevaux
authors.forename: Lamont R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Poole
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Schoeberl
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Haffner
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: Valery
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dorokhov
authors.forename: Hartwig
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gernandt
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Rigel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kivi
authors.forename: Esko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kyrö
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Larsen
authors.forename: Pieternel F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Levelt
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Makshtas
authors.forename: C Thomas
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: McElroy
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Maria Concepción
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Parrondo
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Tarasick
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: von der Gathen
authors.forename: Kaley A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Nikita S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Zinoviev
mesh_terms: D000864:Antarctic Regions; D001110:Arctic Regions; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry*; D002713:Chlorine / Q000737:chemistry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D010126:Ozone / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000266:history; D012621:Seasons; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002713:Chlorine; D010126:Ozone