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Effects of ozone cooling in the tropical lower stratosphere and upper troposphere
Author(s) -
Forster Piers M.,
Bodeker Greg,
Schofield Robyn,
Solomon Susan,
Thompson David
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2007gl031994
Subject(s) - stratosphere , troposphere , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , ozone , climatology , longwave , ozone depletion , tropospheric ozone , ozone layer , radiative transfer , geology , meteorology , physics , quantum mechanics
In this paper, we examine the tropical lower stratosphere and upper troposphere and elucidate the key role of ozone changes in driving temperature trends in this region. We use a radiative fixed dynamical heating model to show that the effects of tropical ozone decreases at 70 hPa and lower pressures can lead to significant cooling not only at stratospheric levels, but also in the “sub‐stratosphere/upper tropospheric” region around 150–70 hPa. The impact of stratospheric ozone depletion on upper tropospheric temperatures stems from reduced longwave emission from above. The results provide a possible explanation for the long‐standing discrepancy between modeled and measured temperature trends in the uppermost tropical troposphere and can explain the latitudinal near‐homogeneity of recent stratospheric temperature trends.