Ground level ozone pollution facts

Ozone pollution is the term that refers to air pollution caused by ground-formed ozone. This is usually the result of interaction between the car exhaust fumes and sunlight.

This kind of pollution is harmful to humans and even more harmful to plants because they are much more sensitive to ozone. The bigger concentration of ozone in the air means bigger damage to plants. The researchers have recently concluded that the ozone damage to plants is the highest in Central Europe because of very high ozone concentrations.

This negative effect that ozone pollution has on plants is causing significant reduction in agricultural yields in many parts of the world and could even lead to serious food shortages.

The U.S. city most affected with ozone pollution is Houston with the ozone readings at of around 41 nmol/mol.

The rise of ozone pollution is adding to climate change and global warming because it disrupts plant's ability to soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The scientists have discovered that the concentration of ground-level ozone has doubled since 1850 mostly because of the increased amount of chemical emissions coming from vehicles, industrial processes, and the burning of forests.

Ground level ozone is an air pollutant only at ground level. In atmosphere at a height of 10-40 kilometers above Earth's surface ozone plays major role in protecting our planet from dangerous sun's ultraviolet rays without which there wouldn't be life on Earth.