A little known greenhouse gas is quietly harming half of Europeans. This Italian city is hit hardest

Half of Europeans were exposed to a little-known greenhouse gas during this summer’s record breaking heatwaves and wildfires.
Ground-level ozone is an air pollutant that can “penetrate deep into the respiratory system and enter the bloodstream, allowing it to reach almost all organs within the body.” People who suffer from asthma are the most at risk.

Ozone forms from thousands of chemical reactions, triggered by sunlight and high temperatures. So the record-breaking heatwaves that gripped Europe from June to August this year led to ozone levels dangerous to human health. During this period, 50 per cent of Europe’s population was exposed to poor, very poor or extremely poor ozone levels, according to the European Commission’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS).

“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,” says Laurence Rouil, Director of CAMS.