Tropospheric ozone

Tropospheric ozone is ozone in the atmospheric layer nearest Earth’s surface. It forms mainly through sunlight-driven reactions among nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, harming health and vegetation while trapping heat.

Photochemical smog: Air pollution produced when sunlight drives reactions among nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. Tropospheric ozone is a major product of the sunlight-driven chemistry that creates this smog.
Ozone health effects: Respiratory and cardiovascular harms associated with breathing ground-level ozone. Inhaled tropospheric ozone inflames airways and can reduce lung function.
Air quality index: A standardized scale that communicates how current air pollution may affect health. Many air-quality indices report ozone concentrations as a daily health risk.
Stratospheric ozone: Ozone in the stratosphere that absorbs much of the Sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation. Unlike protective stratospheric ozone, ozone near the surface is a harmful pollutant.
Nitrogen oxides: Reactive gases, chiefly nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide, produced by combustion and other processes. They participate in ozone-forming reactions and can either produce or consume ozone, depending on conditions.
Ozone plant toxicity: Plant injury caused when ozone enters leaves and disrupts cellular processes. Ozone damages vegetation, reducing growth and crop yields.
Ground-level ozone standards: Regulatory concentration limits for ozone in outdoor air, set to protect health or welfare. These standards turn evidence about ozone exposure into enforceable targets.
Ozone layer: The stratospheric region with elevated ozone concentrations that shields life from ultraviolet radiation. The ozone layer is high in the atmosphere; tropospheric ozone occurs below it.
Volatile organic compounds: Carbon-containing compounds that readily enter the atmosphere as gases. Their oxidation helps convert nitrogen oxides into ozone-producing chemistry.
Radiative forcing: A measure of how a change in Earth’s energy balance alters the climate system. Tropospheric ozone absorbs infrared radiation and contributes to positive radiative forcing.

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