Increasing ozone over the Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

Ship-borne ozone (O3) measurements over the Atlantic Ocean during the period from 1977 to 2002 show that 03 trends in the northern mid-latitudes are small. In contrast, remarkably large O3 trends occur at low latitudes and in the Southern Hemisphere, where near-surface O 3 has increased by up to a factor of 2. The likely cause is the substantial increase of anthropogenic emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO x) associated with energy use in Africa, which has added to NO x from biomass burning and natural sources.