Ozone pollution responsible for US $ 63 billion in crop losses in East Asia

 
A paper reporting that crop production in East Asia suffers an estimated $ 1 billion annual yield loss, which is related to ozone pollution.nature food Will be published in.This estimate includes a decrease in relative yields for the three major commercial crops (wheat, rice and corn) in Japan, China and South Korea.

In Asia, the surface concentration of ozone, a type of greenhouse gas, is rising and is expected to continue rising as food demand increases.Exposure to ozone pollution impedes crop growth and agricultural production and poses a risk to food security.Quantification of these effects has been tried many times, but there was a strong tendency for bias to occur due to the lack of observational and experimental data.

Now, Zhaozhong Feng and colleagues use experimental data from major agricultural production areas in Asia to establish an ozone exposure-reaction relationship for three major crops (wheat, rice, and maize).Feng et al. Supplemented this information with measurement data of atmospheric ozone concentration at more than 3 observation points in China, Japan, and South Korea.The decrease in relative yield was most pronounced in China, with wheat at 3000%, rice at 33% and corn at 23%.Overall, an annual reduction in crop production due to ozone pollution was estimated at $ 9 billion.

Feng et al. Conclude that the impact of ozone pollution on crop production underscores the need for stricter and adaptation measures for ozone emission regulations at the local level.

 
* This article is reprinted from "Nature Japan Featured Highlights".
Reprinted from: "Ozone pollution has reduced yields of East Asian crops by $ 630 billion'