Estimates made in the 1970’s indicated that a supernova occurring within tens of parsecs of Earth could have significant effects on the ozone layer. Since that time improved tools for detailed modeling of atmospheric chemistry have been developed to calculate ozone depletion, and advances have been made also in theoretical modeling of supernovae and of the resultant gamma-ray spectra. In additi...

Skin cancer mortality resulting from stratospheric ozone depletion has been widely studied. Similarly, there is a deep body of literature on surface ozone and its health impacts, with modeling and observational studies demonstrating that surface ozone concentrations can be increased when stratospheric air mixes to the Earth’s surface. We offer the first quantitative estimate of the trade-off be...

Although ultraviolet radiation (400–280 nm) comprises only a small portion of the solar spectrum, it has a disproportionately large photobiological effect on both plants and animals due to its absorption by important biological molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids. This is particularly true in the UV-B (320–280 nm). Ultraviolet radiation has shaped life and its evolution on Earth for as...

Climate models that do not simulate changes in stratospheric ozone concentrations require the prescription of ozone fields to accurately calculate UV fluxes and stratospheric heating rates. In this study, three different global ozone time series that are available for this purpose are compared: the data set of Randel and Wu (2007) (RW07), Cionni et al. (2011) (SPARC), and Bodeker et al. (2013) ...

Urban ozone concentrations are determined by the balance between ozone destruction, chemical production and supply through advection and turbulent down-mixing from higher levels. At high latitudes, low levels of solar insolation and high horizontal advection speeds reduce photochemical production and the spatial ozone concentration patterns are largely determined by the reaction of ozone with n...

Climate scientists have concluded that stratospheric ozone depletion has been a major driver of Southern Hemisphere climate processes since about 1980. The implications of these observed and modelled changes in climate are likely to be far more pervasive for both terrestrial and marine ecosystems than the increase in ultraviolet-B radiation due to ozone depletion; however, they have been largel...