Assessing the future global impacts of ozone on vegetation

ABSTRACT Ozone is a major secondary air pollutant, the current concentrations of which have been shown to have significant adverse effects on crop yields, forest growth and species composition. In North America and Europe, emissions of ozone precursors are decreasing but in other regions of the world, especially Asia, where much less is known about its impacts, they are increasing rapidly. There is also evidence of an increase in global background ozone concentrations, which will lead to significant changes in global ozone exposure over this century, during which direct and indirect effects of other changes in the global atmosphere will also modify plant responses to ozone. This paper considers how far our…