Chlorinated very short-lived substances offset the long-term reduction of inorganic stratospheric chlorine

Dubé, Kimberlee; Tegtmeier, Susann; Bourassa, Adam; Laube, Johannes C.; Engel, Andreas; Saunders, Laura N.; Walker, Kaley A.; Hossaini, Ryan; Bednarz, Ewa M.

doi:10.1038/s43247-025-02478-9

i

Chlorinated very short-lived substances offset the long-term reduction of inorganic stratospheric chlorine

2025
By Dubé, Kimberlee ; Tegtmeier, Susann ; Bourassa, Adam ; ...

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Journal Title:

Communications Earth & Environment
Personal Author:

Dubé, Kimberlee ; Tegtmeier, Susann ; Bourassa, Adam ; Laube, Johannes C. ; Engel, Andreas ; Saunders, Laura N. ; Walker, Kaley A. ; Hossaini, Ryan ; Bednarz, Ewa M.
NOAA Program & Office:

OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences) ; CSL (Chemical Sciences Laboratory)
Description:

Over the past few decades, a reduction in chlorinated long-lived ozone-depleting substance emissions due to the regulations imposed by the Montreal Protocol has led to a global decrease in stratospheric chlorine. At the same time, emissions of chlorinated Very Short-Lived Substances, which are unregulated, have increased. Here we show that observed changes of inorganic stratospheric chlorine are inconsistent with changes in the tropospheric abundances of long-lived ozone-depleting substances. Satellite observations of stratospheric chlorine species from the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment—Fourier Transform Spectrometer during 2004–2020 reveal that the observed decrease in inorganic stratospheric chlorine is 25%–30% smaller than expected based on trends of long-lived ozone-depleting substances alone. At mid-latitudes in the lower stratosphere, this can be explained by the chlorinated Very Short-Lived Substances increase, which offsets the long-term reduction of stratospheric chlorine by up to 30%.
Source:

Communications Earth & Environment, 6(1)
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02478-9
ISSN:

2662-4435
Format:

pdf
Publisher:

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

Grant no. NA22OAR4320151
License:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Rights Information:

CC BY-NC-ND
Compliance:

Submitted
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:8cd2d7f3658e81321d538566da3cedc7f2b4de1abdb43ac6b3db4d9dbfcd82d512c8b065d32101f81ab8ce698accbe2f6e46c5a8d97a7064e2b4bc8787ade5ca
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/71492/noaa_71492_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 946.79 KB ]

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