Destruction of key compound of ozone detected
29 Jul 2010
For the first time, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) scientists have successfully measured in the ozone layer the chlorine compound ClOOCl which plays an important role in stratospheric ozone depletion.
The doubts in the established models of polar ozone chemistry expressed by American researchers based on laboratory measurements are disproved by these new
atmospheric observations.
The established role played by chlorine compounds in atmospheric ozone chemistry is in fact confirmed by KIT's atmospheric measurements.
The ozone hole above the Antarctic and the destructive role of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and their decomposition products have become a synonym of both global environmental problems and their solution by concerted agreements worldwide.
Scientific fundamental research into ozone chemistry of the atmosphere was the basis of international agreements, such as the Montreal Protocol of 1987, which has put limits on CFC production.
The success of the political implementation of these scientific findings is reflected by the fact that the chlorine content of the atmosphere and, hence, the ozone destruction potential recently started to decrease slowly.
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