Increase in Extreme Storms Causing 'Rapid Ozone Destruction'

Injection of water vapor makes ozone layer sensitive to global warming -- and geoengineering

- Common Dreams staff 

Extreme summer thunderstorms are likely causing accelerated damage to the ozone layer over the United States, as the frequency and strength of storms continue to increase, according to a study released Thursday by the journal Science at Harvard University.

Scientists have previously known that strong storms pose a threat to the ozone layer, due to an effect known as water-vapor injections which project H2O high into the stratosphere where it doesn't belong; however, recent studies of storms have revealed that such 'injections' are reaching far higher and at greater capacity than thought possible, and are likely providing conditions for 'rapid ozone destruction.'