Hundreds of deaths from ozone predicted

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:01pm BST 05/10/2008

Hundreds more people could die because of increasing levels of ozone at street level, according to scientists.

A study by the Royal Society found ground levels of ozone, the pollutant caused when sunlight hits a mixture of gases in the air, has risen by six per cent per decade since the 1980s.
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Although the ozone layer protects the planet at a higher level, at ground level it is damaging to human health.
Children, the elderly and asthmatics are particularly vulnerable to the pollutant which affects the lungs, nose and eyes and is worse on warm stagnant days. The situation could be compounded by global warming, experts fear.
In 2003 some 1,582 UK deaths were attributed to ozone.
But the study projected that with more emissions in the future and climate change this will rise by 51 per cent resulting in 2,391 deaths in 2020.
If no limit is put on the level at which ozone can affect health, then the increase in ozone results in a 15 per cent rise in deaths from 11,272 to12,930 in the same period. An increase in ozone levels is also bad for crops, affecting yield and nutrition levels.
In the EU in 2000 an estimated £5.2 billion was lost due to the impact on arable crops. Again this is projected to get worse as ozone levels rise in the next few years, especially for staple crops such as wheat and rice, threatening food security.
Professor David Fowler, Chairman of the Royal Society's ground level ozone working group, said something must be done to reduce ozone levels in the coming years.
Ozone concentrations increase in hot, sunny, stagnant weather conditions, so will get worse as the climate warms up. The situation is exacerbated by emissions including vehicle exhaust fumes, the smoke from forest fires and emissions from international shipping.
However, it cannot be controlled by one country alone, but must be tackled on a global basis, Prof Fowler said.
"Ozone is a global traveller and one of the most pervasive of air pollutants. Weather systems and jet streams transport ozone, and the pollutants that lead to its formation, often far from their point of origin. Here in the UK, for example, we receive most of our ozone from outside of Europe," said Professor Fowler.
"Until we have a globally coordinated approach that addresses the international nature of the problem, national and even regional level controls are unlikely to deliver the kind of reductions that are necessary to protect human health and the environment."
The report highlights that climate change and ozone levels are inextricably linked.
While hotter weather make it harder to reduce levels of ground level ozone, an increased level of ozone reduces the ability of plants to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thereby contributing to climate change.
Furthermore, increased levels of ozone will exacerbate climate change because it is the third most important greenhouse gas contributing to global warming.
"Ozone has become a global pollutant, with direct effects on human health, crop production, ecosystems and climate, yet control strategies are country or region based," Professor Fowler went on.
"A coordinated global strategy bringing ozone into international frameworks for controlling air pollutants and greenhouse gases is required.
"The reduction of methane emissions would for example contribute both to the reduction of climate change and ozone pollution, and all of the associated ecological and human health effects."