BBC Complaint–Ozone Hole

By Paul Homewood

You will recall this BBC article from last month:

 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68906013

I complained to the BBC at the time, pointing out that the study did not state that the bushfires were either unprecedented or fuelled by climate change. Nor is there any evidence to that effect.

The study also stated that the main factors involved in ozone loss in recent years were natural ones such as the polar vortex, La Nina and the Hunga Tonga eruption. The BBC report did not even mention the first two, and only mentioned “volcanic eruptions” in passing at the end of the report.

The BBC has responded. As is always the case they fail to answer any of my points:

Thank you for contacting the BBC about the article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68906013
We have looked at the concerns you have raised, the article and other sources of information on this topic.
I have included below some additional information, which I hope will resolve your concerns about the impact of the Australian bushfires.
The BBC article links to this study
Extended ozone depletion and reduced snow and ice cover—Consequences for Antarctic biota
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.17283
Which includes information about the impact of the Australian bushfires, including:
Other events that may have contributed to the larger-than-normal hole size in 2020 and 2021 (but not their duration) include ozone destruction catalyzed by aerosols emitted during the 2019/2020 Australian bushfires (Solomon et al., 2023) and the injection of aerosols into the stratosphere from the La Soufrière and Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruptions in 2021 and 2022 (Evan et al., 2023; Yook et al., 2022).
The paragraph above links to a paper by Solomon et al which supplies additional information on this issue:
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2117325119
That information includes:
These findings suggest that if wildfire smoke injection into the stratosphere increases sufficiently in frequency and magnitude as the world warms due to climate change, ozone recovery under the Montreal Protocol could be impeded, at least sporadically. 
In the article, the BBC provides context and analysis and quotes a number of experts in this field.
For example the article includes this section:
One major reason for the longevity of the ozone hole is the vast scale and extent of Australian bushfires in 2019 and 2020. 
Jim Haywood, who is Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Exeter, told BBC News that the record duration of the Antarctic ozone hole over recent years was "a wake-up call". 
"Society cannot be complacent about our achievements in tackling it," he said.
But there are still a number of factors that are delaying ozone recovery, including wildfires and major volcanic eruptions – these release particles that fuel the ozone-eating reactions that have already done so much damage. 
I hope this additional information resolves your concerns about this article and thank you again for contacting the BBC.

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So I have now filed a follow up complaint:

Your report states "A major cause of ozone loss is believed to be the amount of smoke from unprecedented Australian wildfires, which were fuelled by climate change. "
But the study you quote from does not claim they were unprecedented or fuelled by climate change. Nor is there any evidence that they were unpredecedented. Bushfires have always occurred in Australia.
Although the study speculates that bushfires may get worse in future, this has no relevance to what is happening now or to the 2019 fires.
Moreover the study finds that other natural events such a the Polar Vortex, La Nina and the Hunga Tonga volcano were mainly responsible. The first two of these don’t even get mentioned in the article, and the volcano only gets a passing mention.
Readers will therefore have been badly misled by your claim that climate change was a major cause of ozone loss.

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