China's Ozone Pollution Is Posing A Threat To The US

Despite the umpteen efforts being made by the United States to cut down its ozone emission, a new study has found that the smog-filled skies of China could be affecting lives in the U.S. The resultant increase in the ozone pollution has brought all the environmental efforts to a standstill.

According to the lead researchers of the study, Willem W. Verstraeten, China is exporting its air pollution to the western coast of the U.S. The study, conducted by the researcher from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, further revealed that the Chinese ozone pollution has significantly impacted the pollution management within the U.S., resulting in an offset of 43 percent of the total effort being made.

The study -- complete details of which have been published in the journal Nature Geoscience -- further revealed that the ozone levels in the atmospheric troposphere above China have increased by 7 percent between 2005 and 2010. According to CNBC, “the pollution has combined with ozone released by natural processes to cancel out many of the gains from stricter pollution controls enacted in the United States since 2005.”

A team of researchers from the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and the Wageningen University in the Netherlands measured the amount of ozone between 10,000 and 30,000 feet above the Earth's surface. Using the satellite data and computer models, the researchers tried to trace the roots of the ozone that exist above the skies of the western U.S.

"We tend to think of pollution as a local issue that can be addressed at the local, state or national level," Jessica Neu of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said. "This paper is really showing that long-range transport of pollution is an international issue, in the same way that climate change has become an international issue."

According to the Clean Air Trust, ozone pollution can lead to a number of problems related to the respiratory system, including asthma and respiratory tract infections. The children and the elderly people are at a greater risk of developing such infections and diseases. It is estimated that if the ozone pollution continues to grow at the same pace, it might start affecting the weather in the U.S. soon.