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On the Cause of Recent Variations in Lower Stratospheric Ozone
We use height-resolved and total column satellite observations and 3-D chemical transport model simulations to study stratospheric ozone variations during 1998–2017 as ozone-depleting substances decline. In 2017 extrapolar lower stratospheric ozone displayed a strong positive anomaly following much lower values in 2016. This points to large interannual variability rather than an ongoing downward trend, as reported recently by Ball et al. (2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-1379-2018). The