Estimates of the ozone total columnar content, derived from Nimbus IV IRIS data, have been analyzed to estimate monthly averages of the total global atmospheric ozone. Over a 9-month interval, the variation in this monthly average is approximately an order of magnitude greater than its associated uncertainnty, and has characteristics in common with variations in the 10.7 cm solar flux, the Zurich sunspot number, and the total solar Lyman &agr; flux. The highest correlation, 0.94, exists between the variation in the total Lyman &agr; flux and the variation in the estimated total atmospheric ozone.