Quantification of relative contribution of Antarctic ozone depletion to increased austral extratropical precipitation during 1979–2013

Abstract

Attributing the observed climate changes to relevant forcing factors is critical to predicting future climate change scenarios. Precipitation observations in the Southern Hemisphere indicate an apparent moistening pattern over the extratropics during the time period 1979 to 2013. To investigate the predominant forcing factor in triggering such an observed wetting climate pattern, precipitation responses to four climatic forcing factors, including Antarctic ozone, water vapor, sea surface temperature (SST), and carbon dioxide, were assessed quantitatively in sequence through an inductive approach. Coupled time‐space patterns between the observed austral extratropical precipitation and each climatic forcing factor were firstly diagnosed by using the maximum covariance analysis (MCA). With the derived time series from each coupled MCA modes, statistical relationships were established between extratropical precipitation variations and each climatic forcing factor by using the extreme learning machine. Based on these established statistical relationships, sensitivity tests were conducted to estimate precipitation responses to each climatic forcing factor quantitatively. Quantified differential contribution with respect to those climatic forcing factors may explain why the observed austral extratropical moistening pattern is primarily driven by the Antarctic ozone depletion, while mildly modulated by the cooling effect of equatorial Pacific SST and the increased greenhouse gases, respectively.

Chemical profiling of mycosporine‐like amino acids in twenty‐three red algal species

“…Thinning of the stratospheric ozone layer, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere and as reflected in the Antarctic Ozone Hole which resulted in an increase of biologically harmful solar UVR reaching the Earth's surface (Bai et al. ) magnifies their importance. The multiple effects of UVR on Rhodophyta and other algae have been studied for decades, and different protective mechanisms against excessive solar radiation were reported (Karsten and references therein).…”

Ozone—climate interactions and effects on solar ultraviolet radiation

“…Depletion of stratospheric ozone in Antarctica has been shown to explain more than half of the observed changes in precipitation between 1979 and 2013 in the subtropics of the SH, while increasing GHGs have a weaker role. 71 This finding emerged from a statistical model-ling approach (maximum covariance analysis) that was used to quantify the relative contribution of different climate forcing mechanisms, including ozone depletion, changes in the sea surface temperature of the equatorial Pacific, and increasing GHGs. In a more recent study, 72 an analysis of observations and climate models demonstrated that depletion of stratospheric ozone has led to changes in springtime precipitation in the sub-tropical South Pacific Ocean, Australia, and New Zealand over the 1961-1996 period.…”

Stress metabolite pattern in the eulittoral red alga Pyropia plicata (Bangiales) in New Zealand – mycosporine-like amino acids and heterosides

“…Furthermore, diurnal solar cycles, as well as clouds and atmospheric particles have been identified as important factors determining the intensity of UVR. An increase in the emission of man-made halogenated volatile substances over the past decades has resulted in a thinning of the ozone layer in polar regions, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere (Antarctic Ozone Hole), and in this context resulted in an increase in biologically harmful UVR reaching the earth's surface (Bai et al, 2016;Franklin and Forster, 1997).…”