George Tiao Co-Authors Study Showing Ozone Layer No Longer Shrinking

George Tiao, W. Allen Wallis Professor Emeritus of Econometrics and Statistics, is one of a group of statisticians and atmospheric scientists who studied the role of human impact on the ozone in the upper atmosphere. EPA program analyst Bella Maranion described the project team as “a major influence on the policy development to protect stratospheric ozone.”

The study, started at the Center for Integrating Statistical and Environmental Science at the University of Chicago, grew out of the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement on limiting chemicals that harm the air. Funding was provided by National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. Michael Stein, director of the CISES called the effort “some of the most authoritative [work] in the statistical analysis of stratospheric ozone.”

Findings are reported in the Journal of Geophysical Research.