TROPOSPHERIC OZONE FORMATION

TROPOSPHERIC OZONE FORMATION

1. GROUND-LEVEL OZONE

   • Caused by human activities as they produce highly energetic chemical reactions
     • eg. Combustion > photocopying
       • Lasers often have a smell of ozone which can be very toxic in high concentrations
         • REF: The London Hazards Centre (2007) 'Photocopiers and laser printer hazards' The London Hazards Centre Factsheet. [Online] [Accessed Septmeber 2019] http://www.lhc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Factsheet-Photocopiers-laser-printers.pdf
   • Destructive pollutant with high priority in environmental regulations

2. WHAT IS THE "OZONE"

   • The ozone is a constituent of the TROPOSHERE
   • TYPES
     • GROUND-LEVEL OZONE
       • Lower concentration
       • Major threat to human health
     • OZONE ALOFT
       • Higher concentration
   • "Powerful oxidising agent"
     • OZONE + CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS = TOXIC OXIDES
     • A noxious pollutant at ground-level. A benefit to life in the higher atmosphere (Ozone aloft)
       • REF: Johnson, E. (2017) 'Cars and ground-level ozone: how do fuels compare?' European Transport Research Review. [Online] [Accessed September 2019] Springer International Publishing. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12544-017-0263-7
   • Ozone is a byproduct of burning organic material like trees and other vegetation—or of the combustion of fossil fuels in industrial settings. Burning organic matter transforms part of the carbon that was in the vegetation into its gaseous forms, including carbon dioxide, methane and what are known as volatile organic compounds. Volatile organic compounds combine with another byproduct of burning, nitrogen oxides, and together they form ozone in the presence of sunlight. The smoke plumes from the fires and updrafts from large storm systems then lift the ozone—along with ozone precursors, which continue to react in transit, and other tracer compounds produced by fires—high into the atmosphere where winds transport them thousands of miles away.
     • REF: NASA, (2016) 'TRopical Fires Fuel Elevated Ozone levels over Westeran Pacific Ocean' NASA.gov [Online] [Accessed Septmeber 2019] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/tropical-fires-fuel-elevated-ozone-levels-over-western-pacific-ocean

3. IMPACT OF GROUND LEVEL OZONE ON HEALTH

   • FORMS PHOTOCHEMICAL + CHEMICAL REACTIONS
     • Many of the chemical processes occuring in the earth's atmosphere
     • Photochemical pollution = Nitrogen oxides + volatile organic compounds (VOCs) + carbon monoxide (CO) all within the presence of SUNLIGHT
       • REF: (2016) 'Tropospheric ozone:background information' European Environemental Agency. [Online] [Accessed September 2019] https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/TOP08-98/page004.html
       • DIAGRAM
         • REF: Marked by Teachers, (2019) 'Photochemical Smog' [Online] [Accessed September 2019] http://bit.ly/2kS1xfU

4. What is "Tropospheric Ozone"?

   • Greenhouse Gas
     • Ozone generates about one-fourth the warming of carbon dioxide.
       • REF: Johnson, E. (2017) 'Cars and ground-level ozone: how do fuels compare?' European Transport Research Review. [Online] [Accessed September 2019] Springer International Publishing. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12544-017-0263-7
   • Initiates the chemical removal of methane and other hydrocarbons from the atmosphere
   • Measured by:
     • Satellites
     • In-situ monitoring technology (Lidar)

5. CONTRIBUTES TO OZONE FORMATION

   • OZONE PRECURSORS
     • Knox CO & Voxx
     • Although they often orginate in high populated, urban areas, WIND can carry NOx hundreds of kilometres causing ozone formation in non-urban areas too.
   • Motor vehicle exhausts, Industrial emissions and chemical solvents
     • Major ANTHROPOGENIC sources of Ozone Precursors
       • Windshield Washer Fluid
   • METHANE
     • It's atmospheric concentration has increased dramatically over the last century

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