The discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole in the 1980s marked a major environmental concern and prompted global regulation of man-made ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) under the Montreal Protocol. Although Antarctic ozone has shown signs of recovery since the 2000s, quantifying the extent to which this recovery is driven by reductions in ODSs, rather than other forcings or natural variability, remains a key challenge. Here, I apply a pattern-based fingerprinting approach that combines satellite observations with large ensembles of chemistry-climate model simulations to isolate the signature of ozone recovery. I show that observed Antarctic ozone changes since 2005 are primarily driven by declining ODS emissions and are unlikely to be explained by other forcings or internal variability. Beyond the stratosphere, Antarctic ozone changes also have far-reaching impacts on surface climate. Using long control simulations to characterize the intrinsic coupling between ozone and sea surface temperature (SST), I show that Antarctic ozone depletion has contributed to the observed cooling in the Southern Ocean and eastern tropical Pacific over the past four decades, despite ongoing global-mean surface warming. This ozone-driven SST pattern enhances global radiative feedback by up to 20% during the depletion era, acting to stabilize the climate system. As ozone recovery progresses, this stabilizing influence weakens, contributing to a more warming-prone climate state. Looking ahead, I will continue to integrate satellite and in situ observations with chemistry-climate modeling, along with advanced statistical and machine learning approaches, to better understand the role of stratospheric chemistry in shaping the coupled Earth system.
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