This article reports on a study, conducted at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS), in which researchers found depleted ozone levels and greenhouse gases are currently contributing to cooler South Pole temperatures. However, this trend is likely to reverse in the next 50 years. Low ozone levels in the stratosphere and increasing greenhouse gases promote a positive phase of a shifting atmospheric climate pattern in the Southern Hemisphere, called the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). A positive SAM isolates colder air in the Antarctic interior. In the coming decades, ozone levels are expected to recover due to international treaties that banned ozone-depleting chemicals. Higher ozone in the stratosphere protects Earth's surface from harmful ultraviolet radiation. The study found higher ozone levels might have a reverse impact on the SAM, promoting a warming, negative phase.
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