Home · Science · Sep 30 archive
Global Ozone Pollution Hits Record Levels, Affecting 40% of World Population
Confirmed
In Short: According to a new report by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), nearly 40% of the global population has been exposed to dangerous levels of ground-level ozone so far this year, driven by extreme heat and human-caused air pollution.
CAMS, which provides one of the most comprehensive assessments of Earth’s atmosphere, combines satellite and ground-based observations with advanced atmospheric modeling to monitor air pollution and wildfires.
The analysis of data from the first eight months of 2026 highlights the close link between climate change and air pollution, with ozone pollution levels across much of the Northern Hemisphere ranking above the recommended levels by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Asia is the continent most impacted by ozone pollution, followed by Europe and North America. In Asia, 53% of the population has been exposed to 'extremely poor' air quality, with concentrations of ozone well above WHO exposure guidance.
Laurence Rouil, director of CAMS, stated, “Ozone pollution is a stark reminder of how interconnected our atmosphere, climate, health, and livelihoods really are, with pollution and our changing climate impacting the chemistry of the air we breathe, determining the health of our ecosystems, and even governing our ability to grow food.”
In North America, despite rigorous efforts to reduce pollution in recent decades, ozone levels have remained relatively unchanged. The American Lung Association reports that ozone exposure this year is higher than the past five years, with more than 4 in 10 people in the United States currently living in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution.
Ozone pollution is linked to 60,000 premature deaths per year in Europe, according to Ian Marnane, an official at the European Environment Agency. When heat and sunlight react with airborne emissions from wildfires, vehicles, and industry, they create ground-level ozone pollution, which can damage lung tissue, cause breathing problems, trigger asthma attacks, and lead to other health issues.
Despite progress in cutting the most harmful air pollutants in recent decades, ozone has proved more difficult to tackle as climate change fuels the conditions that favor its formation.
This year's ozone pollution was driven in part by record-breaking heatwaves and wildfires that seared Europe and North America and sent smoke well beyond their borders.
In addition to these global trends, local monitoring efforts, such as NASA’s Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) project in Addis Ababa, have provided detailed long-term views of the role of black carbon in urban air quality, with levels in Addis Ababa being approximately four to nine times higher than those measured in U.S. metropolitan areas.
What this adds
The report highlights the need for continued monitoring and mitigation strategies to address the rising levels of ozone pollution globally.
The data from CAMS underscores the importance of international cooperation in addressing air pollution, as pollutants can travel across borders and affect air quality far from their source.
What's confirmed
- A new analysis of data from the first eight months of 2026 by the EU's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) highlights the close link between climate change and air pollution.
- CAMS uses satellite data and computer models to monitor air pollution and wildfires.
What's still developing
- This includes indoor air pollution monitors, portable air quality monitors and more.
- In that time I’ve… This is a review of the Qingping Air Quality Monitor Generation 2.
- Experts that monitor the island's sea eagle population did not expect the male chick to survive, but it has now been spotted three years on - soaring above the island with the distinctive kink in its wing clearly visible.
- Satellites are the best tool researchers have for continuously monitoring dust across the planet, but it is difficult to separate it out from other aerosol types such as smoke and pollution.
- Observing that “environmental harm routinely transcends its geographical roots”, the Jharkhand High Court recently directed its state pollution control board to conduct surprise inspections and continuously monitor the pollution data of the two factories situated in Ramgarh to ensure continuous compliance with air and water pollution limits A bench of Chief Justice MS Sonak and Justice Rajesh Shankar was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in 2024 by a man raising concerns of residents of Ramgarh, an industrial town in Jharkhand where two factories were causing “serious environmental pollution”.
- On Wednesday morning, seven air monitoring stations across the metropolitan area of Philippine capital Manila recorded “unhealthy levels” of PM2.5 pollutant particulate, according to the country’s Environment and Natural Resources Department (DENR).
- The haze reaching Indonesia’s northern neighbor followed forecasts from Europe-based earth observation platform Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Services (CAMS) that showed the general trajectory of pollution from wildfires in the country to cross the South China Sea toward the Philippines.
- On Wednesday afternoon, Kuching, the capital of Malaysia’s Sarawak state, was named the world’s most polluted major city with air quality reaching “hazardous levels”, according to Swiss-based air quality monitoring company IQAir.
- The report found that so far this year, Asia has faced the greatest impacts of ozone pollution, fueled by widespread anthropogenic emissions from industrialization, economic development, urban expansion and transport across the continent.
- "Air pollution does not stop at borders. It can travel thousands of kilometres, crossing continents and oceans and affecting air quality far from its source," CAMS director Laurence Rouil said in the Atmosphere Watch report.
- Another 17 percent of the world breathed "very poor" air, while five percent was exposed to "good" levels of ozone.