Why mountains are bad for the ozone layer
“MOUNTAIN waves” in the atmosphere above Antarctica create rare clouds that are helping destroy the ozone layer.
Over the last two decades, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) released by human activity have opened a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. Key chemical reactions that lead to ozone depletion happen on the surface of rare polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs), which form high up in the atmosphere. Here, sunlight breaks down the CFCs into products that react to produce chlorine, which in turn decomposes ozone.
This implicates so-called mountain waves, which are created when an airstream flows over high relief. The waves churn up the air high in the atmosphere and appear to create the temperature variations (Geophysical Research Letters, DOI: 10.1029/2008GL036629).