Radiative forcing due to ozone in the 1980s: Dependence on altitude of ozone change

Abstract

The radiative forcing of the surface‐troposphere system caused by the changes in ozone in the 1980s is sensitive to the altitude profile of these changes. In the tropics, inclusion of lower stratospheric ozone depletions observed by SAGE results in a substantial negative radiative ozone forcing. In mid‐latitudes, the magnitude of the negative stratospheric ozone forcing diminishes as the altitude of ozone depletion is raised above the tropopause. By contrast, the radiative forcing corresponding to the decadal tropospheric ozone increases observed at certain Northern Hemisphere mid‐latitude locations is strongly positive. The magnitude and sign of the total (tropospheric + stratospheric) ozone forcing in Northern Hemisphere mid‐latitudes is critically dependent on the vertical profile of the tropospheric ozone increases and the lower stratospheric losses near the tropopause. Copyright 1993 by the American Geophysical Union.