Ozone is a reactive gas that consists of three oxygen atoms. And while it can be naturally occurring, at ground level it is often formed by the interaction of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides -- which are both air pollutants.
Increases in ozone are important because ground-level ozone can cause a wide array of health problems, including decreased lung function and inflammation of airways, contributing to hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Specifically, the researchers looked at how often ozone levels would exceed air quality standards designed to protect public health, how far ozone levels would overshoot the standards, and how that may change by 2050.
"However, even in this best case scenario, we found that more variability in ozone levels is projected for 2050 -- meaning that we'd still expect to see an increase in the number of days where there is an exceptionally high increase in ozone, violating the air quality standard," says East. "Right now, state and federal governments are trying to manage ozone levels by reducing emissions of air pollutants," says Garcia Menendez."This work suggests that the current emissions reductions efforts may be less effective for helping meet ozone standards for many parts of the country, particularly those that are already struggling to meet air quality standards."
The work was done with support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, under grant number RGPIN-2023-03807.Air pollution, climate change, and public health are closely linked, as a new study shows. The report details on a town-by-town basis the deaths and illnesses caused by air pollution in ...
Australia Australia Latest News, Australia Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: physorg_com - 🏆 388. / 55 Read more »