Ozone set to harm world vegetation, economy: study

[jpak]

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN2923591220071029

BOSTON (Reuters) - The spread of ozone, a greenhouse gas, could inflict serious damage on vegetation in many places, cutting up to 12 percent off the value of global crops by 2100 and hurting the world economy, a study said on Monday.

While hotter temperatures and increases in carbon dioxide from fossil fuels could help vegetation in northern temperate regions, those changes would be undermined by damage to world crops from higher ozone levels, the researchers said.

Levels of ozone, a form of oxygen that pollutes the atmosphere, has been growing near Earth's surface since 1850.

Without curbs on emissions, growing fuel combustion worldwide will push global average ozone up 50 percent by 2100, said the Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists whose research was published in November's journal Energy Policy.

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[Deja Q]

1. After 31 Dec 2008, Albuterol will be discontinued because its mists contain CFCs,

CFCs add considerably to the ozone problem, even if it's one puff at a time.