A colder winter will result in more extensive polar stratospheric clouds, greater destruction of ozone, and a larger ozone hole. An illustration showing the layers of the atmosphere. Most of the protective ozone layer lies in the stratosphere, while nearly all weather occurs in the troposphere. Increases in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can also create this same effect, noted Dr. Mike Newchurch, senior research scientist at the Atmospheric Science Department of The University of Alabama in Huntsville and a member of NASA's Global Hydrology and Climate Center. This cooling can exacerbate ozone destruction just as a particularly cold winter does.
Winds also play a key role in ozone destruction.
This vortex effectively insulates Antarctica from the rest of the atmosphere. It forms up almost as a whirlpool that sits there and is very stable. Most stratospheric ozone is created in the tropics, because the intensity of the solar radiation that causes formation of ozone is higher nearer the equator. The ozone is then transported by stratospheric air currents to the Arctic and to Antarctica. The strong and stable vortex prevents the migration of ozone into the stratosphere over Antarctica, exacerbating the low levels caused by the ice crystal-catalyzed destruction of ozone.