Ozone – the persistent menace: interactions with the N cycle and climate change

Tropospheric ozone is involved in a complex web of interactions with other atmospheric gases and particles, and through ecosystem interactions with the N-cycle and climate change. Ozone itself is a greenhouse gas, causing warming, and reductions in biomass and carbon sequestration caused by ozone provide a further indirect warming effect. Ozone also has cooling effects, however, for example, through impacts on aerosols and diffuse radiation. Ecosystems are both a source of ozone precursors (especially of hydrocarbons, but also nitrogen oxides), and a sink through deposition processes. The interactions with vegetation, atmospheric chemistry and aerosols are complex, and only partially understood. Levels and patterns of global exposure to ozone may change dramatically over the next 50 years, impacting global warming, air quality, global food production and ecosystem function.