Image Credits: NOAA – National Weather Service – Climate Prediction Center
By WUWT Regular “Just The Facts”
On the heels of Andrew Dessler’s Ozone Hole tweet, we have from the BBC:
“Researchers from the University of East Anglia have discovered evidence of four new gases that can destroy ozone and are getting into the atmosphere from as yet unidentified sources.”
“Scientists have identified four new man-made gases that are contributing to the depletion of the ozone layer.
Two of the gases are accumulating at a rate that is causing concern among researchers.”
“Other scientists acknowledged that while the current concentrations of these gases are small and they don’t present an immediate concern, work would have to be done to identify their origin.
“This paper highlights that ozone depletion is not yet yesterday’s story,” said Prof Piers Forster, from the University of Leeds.
“The concentrations found in this study are tiny. Nevertheless, this paper reminds us we need to be vigilant and continually monitor the atmosphere for even small amounts of these gases creeping up, either through accidental or unplanned emissions.
“Of the four species identified, CFC-113a seems the most worrying as there is a very small but growing emission source somewhere, maybe from agricultural insecticides. We should find it and take it out of production.”
The paper “Newly detected ozone-depleting substances in the atmosphere” Laube et al., paywalled, can be found here:
“Ozone-depleting substances emitted through human activities cause large-scale damage to the stratospheric ozone layer, and influence global climate. Consequently, the production of many of these substances has been phased out; prominent examples are the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and their intermediate replacements, the hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). So far, seven types of CFC and six types of HCFC have been shown to contribute to stratospheric ozone destruction1, 2. Here, we report the detection and quantification of a further three CFCs and one HCFC.”
“Our observations on air samples collected in remote regions of the atmosphere show the presence of four previously undetected ozone-depleting substances (ODSs). We have identified and quantified CFC-112 (CFCl2CFCl2), CFC-112a (CF2ClCCl3), CFC-113a (CF3CCl3) and HCFC-133a (CF3CH2Cl) in the atmosphere (Fig. 1). We have reconstructed their past abundances from air extracted from deep polar firn, which can provide a natural archive of atmospheric composition up to about a century back in time5. Our firn air measurements suggest that all four newly reported compounds are anthropogenic (see also Supplementary Information), with insignificant atmospheric abundances before the 1960s.”
For reference, the images the head of this article show the current Northern “Ozone Hole” within the Northern Polar Vortex, at 10 hPa/mb – Approximately 31,000 meters (101,700 feet). Draw your own conclusions…
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A mystery only to the paper’s authors, to be sure.
The interstellar medium is the source of the “unexpected” halides and nitrogen oxides, both of which have been visible to our spectroscopes for at least 40 years.
“Ozone Hole”, within an “Ozone Hole”, within another “Ozone Hole”…
And all within the lobe of the polar outbreak chillin’ the east coast. No lifting going on there. Sinking though. Makes sense that any vertical air movement through the layer would thin it.
OK. That’s twice in one week that:
“we’re” all gonna die.”
🙂
Hmmm — don’t hear too much about sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), which supposedly has a “global warming potential of over 23,000 that of CO2.” Used a lot in electronics industry. Read that California is trying to limit it. I used to use it to check for leaks in a mass spectrometer (MS) set up in the negative chemical ionization (NCI) mode. The MS was so sensitive to SF6, that I could detect a minute leak in the instrument by spraying some into the air even when I was standing on the opposite side of the walkway.
O3 is not at the top of the atmosphere. When the polar air goes into super deep-freeze mode, it drops like a rock taking likely all but the highest stratosphere with it. This circulation is what the polar cell does, I’m suggesting the flow goes into high gear in winter. Thus, would we not expect the O3 level to fall naturally every winter at the poles regardless of hypothetical CFC effects? What am I missing?
justthefactswuwt says:
What is particularly interesting is that there is an “Ozone Hole”, within an “Ozone Hole”, within another “Ozone Hole”…
Not really, and not really. That is: it’s not really interesting, because there’s not really a hole within a hole. It’s simply a gradient. It looks like discrete regions because of the intervals used to color it.
You wouldn’t look at a topographic map and say, “Look! There are little terraces at 20′ intervals around all those mountains!”
But that’s kind of what you’re saying here.
Like I said yesterday they have to prepare a excuse in case the Ozone Hole does not close. 🙂
All —
Please disregard my previous post. (Should be a law against “distracted posting”.
Agree with Jimbo. They are covering their backsides so that they will never have to admit they were wrong on CFCs. They can just blame yet another scare and it will all be “worse than we thought” as usual.
R. Shearer says:
March 9, 2014 at 4:28 pm
Supplemental information at least is not behind a pay wall. http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/extref/ngeo2109-s1.pdf
————–
On page 2:
“It should be noted, that our observations do not prove that CFC-112, CFC-112a, CFC- 113a, and HCFC-133a are entirely man-made. If these substances are not conserved in firn air, or if they are produced by biologically mediated processes that have been enhanced in recent years such as by climate change, then there could be an alternate explanation for the observations reported here. Such alternate explanations cannot be entirely excluded but are very unlikely given the evidence for the industrial usage of these compounds.”
I stopped reading after that.
A real threat or just another hoax? What most of the above comments show, is the damage the CAGW-scam has done to the credibility of science. Whatever is reported hereafter, people won’t believe it. We make scornful comments at best or ignore it as just “green noise”. One day that might mask a signal.
Un-ban Freon. The Hole is fine.
davidmhoffer says: March 9, 2014 at 4:18 pm
You’d never be able to just google it and buy it by the barrel right off the internet, that would never happen….
http://sporlan.en.alibaba.com/product/52095072250102950/CFC_113A_Refrigerant_Gas_Sale.html
_____________________________________
Nice one, Hoff. Made my day.
Concerned greenie wrings his hands and implores the world to find the source of this terrible chemical that is destroying the entire biosphere, within ten years surely……..
And Hoff finds is after 45 seconds on google…..
Ha, ha.
“[a] …growing emission source somewhere, maybe from agricultural insecticides. We should find it and take it out of production.”
————
They want to emulate the success of the anti-DDT campaign.
The DDT ban made rock stars out of “environmentalists”, made a long-lived fad out of eco-sanctimony, paved the way for the anthropogenic fill-in-the-blank industry, and has been killing off humans – much to the delight of the green-malthusians.
What’s not to like?
OT
This morning the tv was on Fox News, and I walked in when their segment Housecall was on with Dr. Marc Siegel and Dr. David Samadi. There was a male and female host but I don’t know their names, sorry.
So the doctors are talking about a new “study” that says high protein diets are bad for you. Dr. Siegel hates Atkins and the Paleo diet because this study shows high protein diets “may” cause cancer. He goes on to say we know fat is bad for you, carbohydrates are bad for you, and protein is bad for you.
The other 3 start laughing. The woman says something like, “Water doctor, is water okay?” Dr. Samadi asks Dr. Siegel what you’re supposed to eat then and he replies, “fruits and vegetables.” Dr. Samadi says, “You can’t live on that.” Dr Siegel says yes you can, with a little protein, and olive oil. He had studied up on vegetable protein the night before. The night before!
Well now with this report and the possibility of pesticides making the hole in the ozone bigger, maybe fruits and veggies will be out too. At least we have water.
It seems climate science isn’t the only bad science these days.
imagine the papers to come from this 200+…
AUDIO: 10 Mar: ABC Australia: The World Today: International sea ice conference in Hobart
ELEANOR HALL: More than 200 scientists from around the world are spending this week in Hobart investigating why sea ice levels in the Arctic and Antarctic are responding differently to the warming of the planet…
FELICITY OGILVIE: The conference is about sea ice in a changing environment. If you’re saying that the changes in sea ice are due to climate change, why then would ice be increasing in Antarctica?
IAN SIMMONDS: There’s a number of reasons and again, we’re still coming to grips with what the total picture is in terms of the Antarctic. But in the Antarctic there are regions of sea ice which are rapidly decreasing in the so-called Bellingshausen Sea, which is near the Antarctic Peninsula. There’s a rapid decrease in sea ice there.
But in other parts of the continent around the coast, there’s dramatic increases. And when you take all those together, you get an actual total increase in the amount of sea ice…
IAN SIMMONDS: Now, there are features which are referred to in our business as “teleconnections,” which means if you impact on one part of the climate system, you’ll see a response in a remote location…
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2014/s3960138.htm
davidmhoffer says:
March 9, 2014 at 4:18 pm
Yeah… like maybe someone somewhere still makes the stuff by the barrel? Nah, couldn’t be. If that existed, it would be run by mad scientists in a secret lab with security guards and and anyone who found out about it would be shot and dropped in the ocean with cement boots to keep the info out of the public. You’d never be able to just google it and buy it by the barrel right off the internet, that would never happen….
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Don’t be fooled, these chemicals are still being produced in countries which were exempted under the rules of the Montreal Protocol. Freon 11 and others were still being produced in Mexico after their production was banned in the US. This was all part of the phase out system implemented. It is next to impossible to buy those chemicals and import them into Canada or the United States, and I assume the EU, despite the fact that they are available for sale on the internet, without exposing yourself to massive fines and criminal prosecution.
website for the Hobart sea ice symposium:
InternationalSymposium on Sea Ice in a Changing Environment
http://seaice.acecrc.org.au/igs2014/scientific_workshops/a
justsomeguy31167 says:
March 9, 2014 at 3:40 pm
I guess when you know the global warming meme is dying, it is time to start a new paranoia fest for the greenies.
======================================
Perhaps the current witch-hunt’s death can be seen written on some walls.
Let’s start a new one! More funding required!
NRG22 says:
March 9, 2014 at 11:51 pm
OT
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Ha!!
Funny, it reminds me of an argument that I had about a Vegan diet. I maintain that a person will die from malnutrition if they live on a pure Vegan diet without supplements. Why? There is one amino acid which humans require which is only available in protein from an animal source, like milk or eggs. Humans are omnivores, which means, in essence, that we require to eat animal and vegetable proteins in order to maintain our proper nutritional levels. We also require minimal amounts of insignificant nutrients like Magnesium and even Uranium. To me, anyone who advocates anything less than a balance diet is a complete fool. This relates to my thinking on the Climate sciences by thinking that anyone who advocates a complete ban on anything is also a complete fool, because they have not investigated the consequences of their recommendations nor their advocacy.
If you insert a mass spectrometer into a hole in the ground, or where the sun don’t shine, and turn the sensitivity to max, you will always be able to find another compound. Then just add the “oh noes”… and, et voilà… out pops another paper, ready for alarming press-release.
UEA has a brilliant department of creative writing. Looks as if the climate scientists were the failures from there. Scenarios implausible and poorly presented as well as all the characters involved looking ludicrous.
Researchers from the University of East Anglia – oxymoron?
It seems pretty clear to me from the contributions of jtf and others that the descending air in the polar vortices provides a means whereby the different ozone concentrations at upper levels are brought down to lower levels so as to affect ozone concentrations at those lower levels, especially above the poles.
There is the means whereby the gradient of tropopause height can change between equator and poles because it is the amount of ozone present which creates the tropopause in the first place by creating a temperature inversion in the stratosphere.
That, then, would be why solar variations affecting the ozone creation / destruction balance above 45km (apparently oppositely to the effect below 45km) can feed downward to alter the latitudinal positions of the climate zones and jets thereby altering global cloudiness which in turn affects the amount of solar energy able to enter the oceans to drive the climate system.
philincalifornia says: March 9, 2014 at 7:48 pm
… Yep, right here:…
Nice catch. Amazing what you find if you take the time to look.