A lot of people mix up the ozone hole and global warming,
believing the hole is a major cause of the world’s increasing average
temperature. Scientists, on the other hand, have long attributed a small
cooling effect to the ozone shortage in the hole.
Now a new computer-modeling study suggests that the ozone
hole might actually have a slight warming influence, but because of its effect
on winds, not temperatures. The new research suggests that shifting wind
patterns caused by the ozone hole push clouds farther toward the South Pole,
reducing the amount of radiation the clouds reflect and possibly causing a bit
of warming rather than cooling.