Consequences of a change in the chemical composition of the atmosphere on the ozone equilibrium

Evidence pointing to the disruption of the atmospheric ozone equilibrium is reviewed. This evidence includes the rapid destruction of the stratospheric ozone layer during the austral spring at the South Pole, the discovery in the Arctic of modifications of chemical equilibrium analogous to those observed in the Antarctic, the first experimental evidence of a reduction in the stratospheric ozone and its increase in the troposphere on the planetary scale.