The 1982 balloon measurements of temperature, ozone, humidity, and ground‐based measurements of turbidity at Syowa station (69°S, 39°E) in Antarctica are used to study the solar and thermal radiative effects due to gases and aerosols. Our calculations indicated that, with the observed temperature, the thermal radiative cooling due to CO2and O3emissions yielded a net radiative cooling in the lower stratosphere throughout the year if the effects of aerosols were excluded. However, the results are very sensitive to the reported ambient temperature. Contribution by aerosols to solar heating was found to be smaller than that due to O3absorption. The aerosols played a more important role in the long‐wave radiation by providing a thermal heating from March to September. During the winter months the thermal heating almost compensated for the cooling due to CO2and O3emissions resulting in a near radiative equilibrium state. This sets the stage for a net radiative warming in spring from absorption of solar energy, which may provide energy for an upwelling motion responsible for the ozone hole. Both the temperature distribution and aerosol properties should be studied in more detail in connection with the dynamical thesis for the O3hole and its interannual varia