Heat Waves and Global Warming Will Worsen Pollution

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When I hold a test tube over a flame, the chemical reaction accelerates. The same happens in our atmosphere when there is a heat wave. Ground-level ozone is made more efficiently in sunny, hot weather since the reactions that create harmful ozone in our atmosphere require sunlight. Therefore, in summer and during heat waves, ozone often reaches dangerous levels, especially in cities. This New York Times article discusses this phenomenon in detail.

In northern India, cold weather worsens the smog. That’s because pollution in cities mixes vertically in the atmosphere. In winter, the height at which this mixing happens shrinks by more than half, raising the concentration of pollution.

Heads you win, tails I lose!

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