Ozone is more than just an air-pollutant, it's also heating our oceans

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-04-01 02:00

Australia; TAS

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Both stratospheric (upper atmosphere) and tropospheric (lower atmosphere) ozone changes have contributed to Southern Ocean interior warming, according to Aussie researchers, with the tropospheric changes being more important. The researchers used simulations and climate models of ozone changes between 1955 and 2000, finding that ozone contributed to about 30% of the ocean heat content increase in the Southern Ocean, with around 60% attributed to tropospheric increases and 40% to stratospheric depletion. The team say their results highlight that tropospheric ozone is more than an air pollutant and, as a greenhouse gas, has been pivotal to the Southern Ocean warming.