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LAND CARBON SINK

Cleaner air is a win–win

Nature Climate Change volume 10, pages 104–105 (2020)Cite this article

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Ground-level ozone is an air pollutant that is harmful to human health, as well as to plants, trees and crops. New analyses based on Earth system modelling show that reducing ozone from the energy, industrial and transportation sectors could mitigate climate change by enhancing the ability of vegetation to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.

Air pollution resulting from fine particulate matter and ozone has increased since pre-industrial times and contributes to increased cardiovascular and respiratory mortality1. These pollutants are derived from products of fossil fuel combustion, and so come from the same source as greenhouse gases that have been contributing to climate warming. Previous studies2 have demonstrated the impact of different emission sectors on the health consequences of these air pollutants. Additionally, air pollution control may help to reduce climate warming. Writing in Nature Climate Change, Nadine Unger and colleagues3 show that cleaning up ozone precursors within specific economic sectors can increase the mitigation potential of the land carbon sink.

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Fig. 1: Schematic of processes involving vegetation uptake of ozone.

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  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA

    Benjamin S. Felzer

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  1. Benjamin S. Felzer
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Correspondence to Benjamin S. Felzer.

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Felzer, B.S. Cleaner air is a win–win. Nat. Clim. Chang. 10, 104–105 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0685-4

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