Paul J. Crutzen

Paul J. Crutzen was a Dutch atmospheric chemist whose research on atmospheric ozone chemistry earned him the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Mario J. Molina: A Mexican-American chemist who shared the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for explaining how chlorofluorocarbons deplete stratospheric ozone. His independent work on ozone chemistry formed the Nobel-recognized research shared with Crutzen.
Stratospheric ozone: Ozone concentrated in the stratosphere that absorbs much of the Sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation. Crutzen’s early research explained how chemical reactions form and destroy this protective layer.
Montreal Protocol: A 1987 international treaty that phases out ozone-depleting substances to protect the ozone layer. The ozone chemistry Crutzen helped establish supplied scientific grounds for controlling these substances.
Anthropocene: A proposed geological epoch characterized by human activity as a major influence on Earth’s systems. Crutzen popularized this name for the scale of human influence on the planet.
F. Sherwood Rowland: An American chemist who shared the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for demonstrating the ozone-depleting effects of chlorofluorocarbons. His collaboration with Molina connected atmospheric chemistry to industrial chemicals and ozone loss.
Nitrogen oxides: A group of reactive nitrogen-and-oxygen compounds that participate in atmospheric chemical reactions. Crutzen showed that nitrogen oxides catalytically destroy ozone in the stratosphere.
Antarctic ozone hole: A seasonal springtime thinning of stratospheric ozone above Antarctica, first identified in the 1980s. Crutzen’s chemical framework helped scientists interpret the reactions driving this dramatic ozone loss.
Global warming: The long-term rise in Earth’s average surface temperature, primarily driven by greenhouse gas emissions. Crutzen’s later work connected atmospheric chemistry with the risks of a warming climate.
Susan Solomon: An American atmospheric chemist whose research explained the chemical processes behind the Antarctic ozone hole. Her field studies later tested and extended the chemical framework Crutzen helped establish.
Chapman cycle: The sequence of oxygen photochemical reactions that forms and destroys ozone in the stratosphere. Crutzen’s catalytic chemistry explained why this basic cycle alone overestimates ozone abundance.

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