A Strategy for Process-Oriented Validation of Coupled Chemistry– Climate Models

1117 AUGUST 2005 AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY | he decreasing levels of halogens in the stratosphere should lead to a gradual recovery from the chemical ozone depletion that has occurred over the past decades (WMO 2003). However, climate change resulting from increases in greenhouse gas concentrations will infl uence the stratosphere through a range of radiative, dynamical, and chemical mechanisms. A schematic diagram showing the principal regions and processes in the stratosphere is displayed in Fig. 1. An improved understanding of these processes and, more generally, of the interaction between chemistry and climate is needed if credible predictions of the future levels of stratospheric ozone, and its impact on climate and surface UV radiation, are to be made. Such predictions are required for the WMO/UNEP and IPCC assessments as part of A Strategy for Process-Oriented Validation of Coupled Chemistry– Climate Models