EU environment watchdog highlights ozone risks - by Cath Everett
A report from Europe's environmental watchdog may lead to new regulation aimed at curbing rising levels of ground-level ozone before it ends up damaging crop yields and human health. Although the study from the European Environmental Agency (EEA) found that the region had managed to cut the emission of gases that lead to ozone creation by 20 to 30 per cent between 1995 and 2005, it also indicated that ground-level ozone pollution levels "do not show any downward trends". In fact, measurements from a site in Ireland showed that emissions had increased by six per cent and are expected to rise further. This situation is a problem because ozone is both a greenhouse gas and an air pollutant, and rising levels could result in poorer crop yields, damage to natural ecosystems and negative effects on human health. The gas's effect on people's respiratory systems has been linked to premature death, particularly among asthmatics, the young and elderly.
As a result, the report concluded that there were "good arguments for integrating ozone abatement into local and regional, but also global strategies and measures addressing air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions simultaneously".
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