Cited research: Geophys. Res. Lett. doi:10.1029/2010GL042812 (2010)

A combination of climate change and repair of the hole in the stratospheric ozone layer could, by 2100, lead to increased ozone concentrations in the lower atmosphere (troposphere), particularly in the Southern Hemisphere. Higher levels of ozone could adversely affect air quality and human health.

Guang Zeng of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in Lauder, New Zealand, and her colleagues used a tropospheric chemistry climate model to separate the effects of two factors on the global ozone budget: changes in atmospheric circulation due to climate change, and the expected recovery of stratospheric ozone.

When ozone recovery was included, predicted increases in ozone at Earth's surface almost doubled in southern extra-tropical regions during winter months, relative to increases caused by climate change alone.