Ozone depletion results in greater amounts of UV-B radiation that will have an impact on terrestrial and aquatic biogeochemical systems. Biogeochemical cycles are the complex interactions of physical, chemical, geological and biological processes that control the transport and transformation of substances in the natural environment and therefore the conditions that humans experience in the Earth's system. The increased UV-B radiation impinging on terrestrial and aquatic systems, due to ozone depletion, results in changes in the trace gas exchange between the continents, oceans and the atmosphere. This results in complex alterations to atmospheric chemistry, the global elemental cycles, such as the carbon cycle, and may have an impact on the survival and health of all organisms on Earth, including humans.

In the figure, UV radiation is shown to influence oceanic primary productivity and the production of trace gases at the surface of the oceans and subsequent transfer to the atmosphere. Once in the atmosphere, trace gases such as CO2 interact with the physical climate system resulting in alterations to climate and feedbacks in the global biogeochemical system. Since atmospheric CO2 concentrations play a central role in determining the distribution of heat in the atmosphere, the multiple complex components of the physical climate system such as wind, air-sea momentum, heat exchange and precipitation are influenced. There are also similarly complex interactions between biogeochemical cycling on land and the integrated climate system that have important implications for organisms on Earth. At this stage it is not possible to predict the overall effects of these complex interactions.