Polar stratospheric clouds and the ozone hole

An account is given of physical processes governing the formation of stratospheric particles, in order to dramatize the interactions between polar stratospheric clouds and the Antarctic ozone-destruction mechanism. Attention is given to the successive stages of particle nucleation, condensation/evaporation and sedimentation/coagulation phenomena, and the ways in which polar stratospheric clouds are observed. Considerable evidence exists that polar stratospheric cloud particles are composed of nitric acid. The relatively small Arctic ozone hole depletion is due to the much smaller duration of Arctic stratospheric clouds.