The Ozone Hole and Its Impact on Natural DisastersWhen discussing the global effects of the ozone hole and the depletion of the ozone layer in "The Hole ozone may have caused Australian floods" (2011), Nathanial Gronewold explains the interdependence of climate systems and how the ozone hole not only affects the Arctic and Antarctic, but also climate change in the areas surroundings. Using recent floods in areas like Brisbane, Australia as an example, he uses research from Columbia University to show that the huge hole in the ozone layer is altering precipitation and precipitation patterns over the Southern Hemisphere in places like Brazil, southern Africa and Australia ( Gronewold, 2011). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay According to a study from Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science, changing precipitation brings the meridional jet stream closer to the South Pole and causes a shift in humidity in the tropics. Precipitation in these areas appears to be unaffected by atmosphere-ocean interactions and occurs almost entirely due to ozone depletion in southern polar regions such as the Antarctic (Gronewod, 2011). Depleted ozone levels in lower latitude regions such as southern Africa and Australia also support the claims of the Columbia University study (Christopherson, 2012, p. 68). While La Niña weather patterns may also be a factor in the devastating floods that hit Australia in early 2011, evidence shows that rainfall patterns in these tropical areas are changing due in part to the increasing level of reduction ozone and the ozone hole over Antarctica which has been growing since 1979 (Gronewold, 2011). I found this Scientific American article relevant to recent topics in our class as it not only covered the effects of ozone depletion and the ozone hole, but also the interdependence of our world and Earth systems. In Geosystems (2012), stratospheric ozone loss is said to have increased immensely since 1979, with record depletion in 2006, and it is stated that the increase in ultraviolet radiation caused by such depletion is affecting atmospheric chemistry and biological systems such as precipitation and precipitation (Christopherson) . The concept that biological systems are all interconnected is a topic that has been covered continually, and being able to take this knowledge and apply it to real-life situations, such as floods in Australia, proves useful in understanding systems and how they can affect each other. Furthermore, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987) is mentioned in both Gronewald's article and in our textbook as one of the most successful environmental agreements ever made in history, made to phase out the production of chemicals that deplete the ozone layer. and signed by 189 countries. Without this agreement, global losses of stratospheric ozone could produce numerous cases of skin cancer and a non-existent ozone layer by 2100. Even with this treaty, chlorofluorocarbons already present in the atmosphere will continue to influence our climate due to their long residence time (Christoperson, 2012). , p. 69). Climate change due to the ozone hole is a relatively new idea, as studies of the ozone layer have only been conducted since the 1920s (Christopherson, 2012, p. 68). Lorenzo Polvani, senior researcher, says that too.