Research Spotlight: Ozone recovery and climate change will affect the atmosphere near Earth's surface

Ozone in the stratosphere (∼10–50 kilometers in altitude) helps protect life on Earth from harmful solar ultraviolet radiation. But at the lower altitudes in the troposphere, (0–10 kilometers in altitude), ozone is a major constituent of smog and has detrimental health effects. The stratospheric ozone layer had been depleted but recently has started to recover due to efforts to limit emissions of ozone‐ depleting chemicals.