LARGE-SCALE POLLUTION OF THE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE REMOTE ATLANTIC-OCEAN - EVIDENCE FROM BERMUDA

Ozone acts as a greenhouse gas and controls much of the oxidizing capa city of the atmosphere. Photochemical production of ozone in urban are as (smog) is a serious environmental problem, but how far this process extends on regional or global scales remains a major unanswered quest ion in atmospheric science. In summer, Bermuda basks in pristine marin e air, but in the spring, episodes of high ozone are common. From mete orological analyses and observations of ozone, carbon monoxide, and re active nitrogen compounds, we conclude that half or more of the excess ozone in Bermuda originates from air pollution over eastern North Ame rica.