Stratospheric ozone depletion over India linked to cooling temperatures and changing water vapor
The researchers studied long-term trends in ozone, temperature, and water vapor over India from 1993 to 2015 using satellite data. They found decreasing ozone in the middle stratosphere due to NOx chemistry, but increasing ozone in the upper stratosphere. Temperatures in the stratosphere are cooling, with the most cooling observed around 37 km altitude. Water vapor decreased in the lower stratosphere but increased in the middle and upper stratosphere. There were differences in ozone trends between northern and southern India. The study showed a good correlation between N2O and ozone in the middle stratosphere. Overall, the trends in ozone, temperature, and water vapor varied across different altitudes in the stratosphere over the Indian region.