article thumbnail

York study: Less traffic in first UK lockdown reduced NO2 pollution but caused increase in surface ozone

Green Car Congress

Less traffic on the roads during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the UK led to a reduction in air pollution but may have caused potentially damaging surface ozone levels to rise, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of York. The problem is being created by the change in chemistry between NO x and O 3.

Ozone 397
article thumbnail

Severe drought influences ozone pollution

Green Car Congress

Drought conditions can have complicated effects on ozone air quality, so to better understand the process, researchers have analyzed data from two ozone-polluted cities before, during and after the California drought. However, plants also decrease air ozone levels by taking the gas up through pores in their leaves.

Ozone 207
article thumbnail

Studies find global COVID-19 lockdowns have significantly reduced PM2.5 and NO2 pollution, but ozone up

Green Car Congress

Levels of two major air pollutants have been reduced significantly since lockdowns began in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a secondary pollutant—ground-level ozone—has increased in China, according to new research. Ozone is harmful to humans at ground-level, causing pulmonary and heart disease.

Ozone 291
article thumbnail

Harvard/Nanjing study: China’s war on PM2.5 pollution is causing more severe ozone pollution

Green Car Congress

In early 2013, the Chinese government declared a war on air pollution and began instituting stringent policies to regulate the emissions of PM 2.5. pollution is falling, harmful ground-level ozone pollution is on the rise, especially in large cities. Over the course of five years, PM 2.5 But the rapid reduction of PM 2.5

Ozone 262
article thumbnail

Global study links daily exposure to ozone pollution to increased risk of death

Green Car Congress

Daily exposure to ground level ozone in cities worldwide is associated with an increased risk of death, according to the largest study of its kind, published in an open-access paper in The BMJ. Ground level ozone is a highly reactive gas commonly found in urban and suburban environments, formed when pollutants react in sunlight.

Ozone 243
article thumbnail

Study: ozone levels higher across China than in other countries tracking the air pollutant

Green Car Congress

In China, people breathe ozone-laden air two to six times more often than people in the United States, Europe, Japan, or South Korea, according to a new international study published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. 2017 for one ozone metric. The inset shows ozone trends in Beijing (red) and Los Angeles (blue).

Ozone 199
article thumbnail

California adopts comprehensive strategy to meet federal ozone standard over next 15 years

Green Car Congress

The California Air Resources Board today approved a statewide plan for attaining the federal health-based standard for ozone, typically experienced as smog. The 2022 State Implementation Plan Strategy identifies the state’s control strategy for meeting the federal 70 parts per billion, 8-hour ozone standard over the next 15 years.

Ozone 195