Heat in Europe causes harmful ozone pollution, ‘extreme’ fire risk

The searing heatwave in Europe is generating very high levels of harmful ozone pollution, the region’s atmosphere monitoring service warned on Tuesday, adding that large areas of western Europe are also at “extreme” risk of wildfires.

Record temperatures that scientists say are being caused by climate change are forecast in France and Britain on Tuesday as the suffocating heat that has gripped south-west Europe and fueled wildfires moves north.

“Dry tinder and extreme heat exacerbate the risk of forest fires,” says a statement from the Copernicus Monitoring Service.

The organization’s emergency management service has warned that much of western Europe is in “extreme fire risk” and some areas are at “very extreme fire risk”.

The heatwave is also causing high levels of ozone near the ground, Copernicus said.

Unlike the protective layer in the upper atmosphere, this is an important greenhouse gas and a component of urban smog that harms human health and inhibits photosynthesis in plants.

“The potential human health impacts of very high levels of ozone exposure can be significant in terms of both respiratory and cardiovascular disease,” said Mark Parrington, senior scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.

Ozone is formed when emissions from fossil fuels and other man-made pollutants react in the presence of sunlight, and Copernicus said reducing emissions of these pollutants is “critical”.

Scientists have already identified “extremely high levels of surface ozone” in western and southern Europe, particularly over the Iberian Peninsula and parts of northern Italy.

According to Copernicus, daily highs of surface ozone, which normally peak in the middle of the day, reached unhealthy levels in Portugal, Spain and Italy.

Scientists are now warning that while the situation on the Iberian Peninsula is likely to ease, areas of the north and west of the continent are seeing very high surface ozone levels as temperatures rise.

Ozone levels in these regions are expected to peak over the next few days before leveling off.

Nor did Copernicus predict any relief from the wildfires that have engulfed forested areas in parts of southern Europe.

In south-west France, two massive fires have created apocalyptic scenes of destruction despite much of the country’s total firefighting capacity at work.

Copernicus said total carbon emissions from Spain’s July forest fires were the highest so far since 2003’s June-July period.

Parrington said high surface ozone can lead to a sore throat, cough, headache and an increased risk of asthma attacks.

The Clean Air Alliance estimates that ozone pollution causes about a million additional deaths each year.

Ozone is also a key concern for agricultural regions and food security.

In January, researchers estimated that persistently high levels of ozone pollution in Asia are costing China, Japan and South Korea an estimated $63 billion annually in lost rice, wheat and corn crops.