Impact of ozone depletion on degradation processes of coniferous forests in southern regions of Siberia

Abstract

The main factors leading to the increase in the intensity of coniferous forests focal drying in southern Siberia since the 1990s are analyzed. It is shown that a significant factor that weakens the resistance of coniferous trees could be long-term ozone depletion due to the permanent presence in the atmosphere of volcanic aerosols caused by frequent Plinian eruptions in the volcano tropical belt with VEI ≥ 4, which exposed southern Siberia to continuous exposure of high doses of short-wave UV-B radiation from 1992 to 2012.