prokaryotes

Long lived CFC’s, Methane - Nitrous Oxide uptake and the destruction of the northern hemisphere Ozone Layer http://climateforce....re-ozone-layer/

I still compiling data but from a recent study it is assumed that the destruction of the ozone layer itself affects weather/climate change. Possible feedback mechanism are investigated..

Update

Water vapor breaks down in the stratosphere, releasing reactive hydrogen oxide molecules that destroy ozone. These molecules also react with chlorine containing gases, converting them into forms that destroy ozone as well. So a wetter stratosphere will have less ozone.

Observations of ozone show a thinning of the Earth's protective stratospheric ozone layer by about 3 to 8% overall since the 1970s. In the upper stratosphere, ozone depletion has been from 15 to 20%. Again, the model is better able to reproduce these values when increased water vapor is included. This is especially true in the upper stratosphere, where ozone is most sensitive to water. The model indicates that increased water vapor accounts for about 40% of the ozone loss in the upper stratosphere, and about 20% of the overall loss to date.

There are two driving forces behind the change in stratospheric moisture. Increasing emissions of methane are transformed into water in the stratosphere by chemical reactions. This can account for about a third of the observed increase in moisture there.

http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/shindell_05/

Another impact from more methane and nitrous oxide (denitrification in the water column or from permafrost decomposing)

Drew Shindell of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, suggests that recovery of the ozone layer will be delayed 10 to 20 years by rising levels of two gases—methane and nitrous oxide—that also contribute to greenhouse warming. At low latitudes, methane in the stratosphere breaks down into hydrogen oxides, which attack ozone. Nitrous oxide can decompose to form ozone-eating nitrogen oxides. http://discovermagaz...nov/breakozone/

Second Hole in the Ozone Layer opened over the Artic North Pole in 2011 – Could be Harmful to People

The new tear in the layer of the atmosphere which protects us from the Sun’s harmful UV radiation, is currently smaller than that of the hole over Antarctica. However, the Arctic polar vortex, a persistent large-scale cyclone within which the ozone loss takes place is highly mobile in comparison to the Antarctic vortex.

This means that the Artic Ozone hole has a greater chance of occurring over densely populated northern areas on the earth, as opposed to the virtually unpopulated surface of Antarctica.

Forming in mid August, the Ozone Hole over Antarctica reached a larger than average 26 million square kilometers by September 12, 2011. While the 2011 Antarctic ozone hole briefly extended over the southern tip of South America, if the Arctic Ozone Hole were to eventually reach the size of its polar opposite, researchers estimate that it could expose over 700 million people, wildlife and plants to dangerous UV ray levels. http://newstaar.com/...-people/355050/

[Video] SWIPA – A Changing Environment

Snow, Water, Ice, Permafrost in the Arctic (SWIPA)

“Just the melting of all the floating ice in the arctic ocean, will add as much heat to the earth, as all the Co-2 we put in the atmosphere to date.” Dr. James Lovelock

http://climateforce.net/2012/01/19/swipa-a-changing-environment/