The secondary air pollutant ‘’Ozone” has been known for its detrimental impacts on plant growth. In a new study by researchers led by Alexander W. Chessman, published in the Journal ‘Nature Geosciences’, the effect of the increased ozone level on tropical plants is estimated. The tropical forest which captures around 72PgC from the atmosphere yearly has been substantially affected by the elevated ozone levels. The impact on the net primary productivity (NPP) varies geographically with a decrease of 10.9% NPP in Asian Tropical Forest to 1.5% in Central Africa. The study calculated that this productivity decline has led to a cumulative carbon loss of 0.29 PgC per year since 2000, which is -17% of the tropical contemporary annual land carbon sink in the 21st century.
FOR REFERENCE-
Cheesman, A.W., Brown, F., Artaxo, P. et al. Reduced productivity and carbon drawdown of tropical forests from ground-level ozone exposure. Nat. Geosci. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01530-1
