One of the insidious dangers of the “‘ozone hole’” is that its significance is apparently discounted by the public. The topic has great social currency in airplanes and back yards. Puzzlement is expressed, for example, about why a factor-of-two fluctuation in ozone concentration over Antarctica should be of such concern, when citizens of Los Angeles have for years been subjected to ozone levels much higher than national standards. Astute readers note that pessimistic forecasts of ozone depletion bring high-latitude levels of damaging UV-B radiation (280-320nm) barely up to those presently experienced al sea level in equatorial zones: so what’s the fuss?

Brooks, D.A. 1989. Wolf! An editorial note. Oceanography 2(2):11, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.1989.02.

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