Expedition to probe Arctic ozone layer

Abstract

National Aeronautics & Space Administration research aircraft will probe the Arctic stratosphere next January and February, looking for signs of ozone depletion catalyzed by chlorine from chlorofluorocarbons. Scientists and planes from the U.S.S.R. are expected to participate in the expedition. This mission clearly offers a unique opportunity for international cooperation, says Michael P. Kurylo, NASA program manager for the project. Other NASA scientists and their Soviet counterparts have been preparing a cooperative research plan in Moscow, but an agreement had not been finalized at higher government levels at press time. The research mission is motivated by the recent uncovering of significant losses of ozone at high northern latitudes in winter (C&EN, March 21, page 6). Atmospheric scientists are wondering if the chlorine chemistry that is responsible for the massive ozone depletion that has been occurring over Antarctica each spring for the past decade is also taking place to a lesser extent in the...