NewsEarthWildfires and farm fertilizer use are fueling ozone pollutionThose sources now rival cars and factories in emitting the chemicals that help create ozone Wildfire smoke, seen here blanketing Los Angeles in 2020, can drive up ground-level ozone pollution.E4C/Getty ImagesBy Rachel Berkowitz21 seconds agoImages of Californias wildfires this winter speak for themselves about the fires devastating effects. But those pictures dont tell the whole story. Together with soil emissions, the fires are driving an increase in ground-level ozone pollution causing a fundamental shift in our atmospheres chemistry, researchers say, and potentially rendering air pollution standards unmeetable.Were entering a new air pollution regime, says Ian Faloona, an atmospheric chemist at University of California, Davis.Analyzing satellite data and ground-level observations, Faloona and his colleagues have teased apart the sources that contribute to ozone in major air basins in the southwestern United States. Soil and wildfire emissions of nitrogen-containing ozone precursors, collectively referred to as NOx, are increasingly raising ozone levels, the team found. These NOx emissions levels are now comparable with those from such human-made sources as cars and factories throughout the southwestern United States, Faloona says. He reported his initial findings January at the American Meteorology Societys annual meeting in New Orleans.