Sprintcyclist wrote on Sep 22
nd, 2009 at 1:41pm:
don't worry about the reference muso.
thought a big hole would let the heat out into space??
like a hole in a tent??
It's actually quite a bit more complicated than that. The 1987 Montreal protocol, which restricted the use of CFCs and other ozone-depleting chemicals, will cut warming by five or six times more than the Kyoto protocol over time.
However, the main driving force is atmospheric circulation patterns over Antarctica, and some recent studies suggest that the recovery of the ozone hole will actually increase warming.
I realise that the two statements appear to be contradictory. They are, on the face of it, but the devil is in the details.
The main impact of ozone depletion is increased UV radiation in the the more Southern parts of Australia for example. This has damaging effects on plant life etc.
Any plans being drawn up for Copenhagen at the moment centre on limiting global temperature increase to 2 degrees C. That in itself is very ambitious.
The 2007 assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that stratospheric ozone has a cooling effect of 0.05 Watts per square metre and that the halocarbons currently in the atmosphere have a warming effect of 0.34 W/m2.