No severe ozone depletion in the tropical stratosphere in recent decades

Abstract. Stratospheric ozone is an important constituent of the atmosphere. Significant changes in its concentrations have great consequences for the environment in general and for ecosystems, in particular. Here, we analyse ground-based, ozonesonde and satellite ozone measurements, and reanalysis data to examine the ozone depletion in the tropics, and the spatiotemporal trends in ozone during the past five decades (1980–2020). In the tropics, the amount of column ozone is small (250–270 DU) compared to high and mid-latitudes. In addition, the tropical total ozone trend is very small (±0–0.2 DU/yr), compared to high (±1–1.5 DU/yr) and mid-latitudes (±0.75–1 DU/yr) of both hemispheres as estimated for the period 1998–2018. No measurements and no analyses show any signature of severe stratospheric ozone depletion in the tropics in contrast to a recent claim. Finally, it is very unlikely that an ozone hole would occur outside the Antarctic today with respect to the current stratospheric halogen levels.