Africa Is Warmer Thanks to Ozone Hole Over Antarctica

The infamous hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica may have caused warming in southern Africa over the past two decades, researchers say.
However, as the hole in the ozone layer continues to shrink due to international policies that limit the chemicals that eat away at the ozone, temperatures may cool down in southern Africa, the study researchers also said.
Ozone is a cousin to the oxygen molecules people breathe, consisting of three atoms of oxygen instead of the regular oxygen molecule's two. This gas is concentrated in a layer about 12 to 19 miles (20 to 30 kilometers) above Earth's surface. This ozone layer absorbs most of the ultraviolet light from the sun, helping to defend people against sunburns and skin cancer.

Ozone and warming

Since the early 1980s, when it was first noticed, a hole in the ozone layer opens up over Antarctica every year, decreasing ozone concentrations there by as much as 70 percent. The cause is human-produced chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which once were heavily used in aerosols and refrigeration.
Now, researchers have found that the ozone hole may be linked to warming in southern Africa.
"At first, connecting the two [ideas] appeared quite absurd, and it never occurred to us until we carefully looked at the pointers in the data," said study lead author Desmond Manatsa, a climate scientist at Bindura University of Science in Zimbabwe.


http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/africa-warmer-thanks-ozone-hole-over-antarctica-20131014