Dr. Michael J. Mills

Project Scientist
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Research Interests

My research has focused on modeling the chemistry and microphysics of the middle atmosphere, which affect the ozone layer and our climate. My recent published work has shown how black carbon emissions from planned suborbital rocket launches for space tourism and scientific research could alter the radiative balance of the Earth, change stratospheric circulation, redistribute stratospheric ozone, and alter surface temperatures. My previous work showed how a limited nuclear war between India and Pakistan could produce catastrophic loss of stratospheric ozone globally, lasting a decade. Other work suggested that high-energy cosmic rays from dense interstellar clouds caused catastrophic ozone depletion and mass extinctions in the past, during periods of magnetic reversal on Earth. As a graduate student, I helped develop a semi-empirical method for evaluating ozone depletion potentials, which helped insure that the dramatic depletions in ozone at the Earth's poles are correctly accounted for in evaluating substances controlled by the Montreal Protocol protecting the ozone layer. My work has taken me below the Antarctic Circle and above the Arctic Circle.

Selected Publications

"Potential climate impact of black carbon emitted by rockets," M. Ross, M. Mills, and D. Toohey, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L24810, doi:10.1029/2010GL044548, 2010. Article (14MB) Auxiliary figures (12MB) Auxiliary animation (11MB)

"Intra-seasonal variability of polar mesospheric clouds due to inter-hemispheric coupling," B. Karlsson, C. E. Randall, S. Benze, M. Mills, V. L. Harvey, S. M. Bailey, and J. M. Russell III, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L20802, doi:10.1029/2009GL040348, 2009.

"Massive global ozone loss predicted following regional nuclear conflict," M.J. Mills, O.B. Toon, R.P. Turco, D.E. Kinnison, R.R. Garcia, PNAS, doi:10.1073/pnas.0710058105, 2008. Full Text (PDF, 2.8MB) /Figures (PDF, 1.5 MB)

"The mesospheric sulfate aerosol layer," M.J. Mills, O.B. Toon, G.E. Thomas, J. Geophys. Res. 110 (D24208), doi:10.1029/2005JD006242, 2005.

"Mystery of the volcanic mass-independent sulfur isotope fractionation signature in the Antarctic ice core," A.A. Pavlov, M.J. Mills, O.B. Toon, Geophys. Res. Lett. 32 (L12816), doi:10.1029/2005GL022784, 2005.

"Photolysis of sulfuric acid vapor by visible light as a source of the polar stratospheric CN layer," Mills, M.J., O.B. Toon, V. Vaida, P. E. Hintze, H.G. Kjaergaard, D.P. Schofield and T.W. Robinson, J. Geophys. Res. 110 (D08201), doi:10.1029/2004JD005519, 2005.

"Catastrophic ozone loss during passage of the Solar system through an interstellar cloud," A.A. Pavlov, A.K. Pavlov, M.J. Mills, V.M. Ostryakov, G.I. Vasilyev, Owen B. Toon, Geophys. Res. Lett. 32 (L01815), doi:10.1029/2004GL021601, 2005.

"A 2D microphysical model of the polar stratospheric CN layer," M.J. Mills, O.B. Toon, and S. Solomon, Geophys. Res. Lett. 26 (8), 1133-1136, 1999. Abstract + article

Stratospheric Sulfate Aerosol: A Microphysical Model, M.J. Mills, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Colorado, 1996. PDF (3.2MB)

"Do Hydrofluorocarbons Destroy Stratospheric Ozone?," A.R. Ravishankara, A.A. Turnipseed, N.R. Jensen, S. Barone, M.J. Mills, C.J. Howard and S. Solomon, Science, 263, 71-75, 1994. Abstract / PDF

"On the relationship between stratospheric aerosols and nitrogen dioxide," M.J. Mills, A. O. Langford, T.J. O'Leary, K. Arpag, H.L. Miller, M.H. Proffitt, R.W. Sanders and S. Solomon, Geophys. Res. Lett. 20, 1187-1190, 1993. Abstract + article

"Atmospheric lifetimes and ozone depletion potentials of methyl bromide (CH3Br) and dibromomethane (CH2Br2)," A. Mellouki, R.K. Talukdar, A. Schmoltner, T. Gierczak, M.J. Mills, S. Solomon, and A.R. Ravishankara, Geophys. Res. Lett., 19, 2059-2062, 1992. Abstract + article

"On the age of stratospheric air and ozone depletion potentials in polar regions," W.H. Pollock, L.E. Heidt, R.A. Lueb, J.F. Vedder, M.J. Mills, and S. Solomon, J. Geophys. Res., 97, 12993-12999, 1992. Abstract + article

"On the evaluation of ozone depletion potentials," S. Solomon, M.J. Mills, L.E. Heidt, W.H. Pollock and A. F. Tuck, J. Geophys. Res. 97, 825-842, 1992. Abstract + article