Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 8 hrs ago
Billions faced unhealthy ground-level ozone pollution in 2026
Billions of people faced unhealthy ground-level ozone in 2026, according to estimates from Europe’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.
The analysis used satellite and ground readings in a global model, rather than measurements from a monitor outside every home.
Ground-level ozone forms when pollutants react in sunlight, often building up during hot, still weather, and it can irritate the lungs.
Asia had the worst exposure: six in ten people there experienced ozone levels rated extremely poor, and nine in ten had air rated poor or worse.
In Europe, repeated heatwaves pushed half the population into poor air or worse, while more than two thirds of people in North America faced poor ozone or worse.
Only 5% of the world’s people had ozone levels rated good under the analysis, which covers January 1 to September 15; it does not say what will happen next.
A global analysis found that billions of people faced unhealthy ground-level ozone pollution in 2026, with Asia experiencing the worst exposure.
Only 5 percent of the world’s population breathed ozone at a level the World Health Organization considers good, while almost 40 percent were in the highest category tracked by the service.
The analysis estimated that six in ten people in Asia experienced extremely poor ozone levels and nine in ten experienced poor air or worse.
Heat and sunlight help form ground-level ozone when pollutants from sources including vehicles, factories and wildfires react.
The report covered ozone, wildfire smoke and desert dust from January 1 to September 15.
- Who
- Billions of people worldwide; people in Asia faced the worst exposure.
- What
- A global analysis found widespread unhealthy ground-level ozone pollution in 2026.
- When
- In 2026; the report covered January 1 to September 15.
- Where
- Worldwide, with the worst exposure in Asia.
- Why
- Pollutants react in sunlight to form ground-level ozone, and hot, still weather speeds the reactions and allows ozone to build up.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The report’s coverage period for ozone, wildfire smoke and desert dust.
Fires in France’s Gironde and Landes regions burned close to 124,000 acres and forced 40,000 people from their homes.
CAMS calculated that ozone arriving in Bergamo from elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere mattered as much as every human source in Europe combined.
Earth.com published its report on the findings.
- Good ozone level
- 5 percent of the world’s population
- Highest category
- Almost 40 percent of the world’s population
- Asia
- Six in ten people experienced extremely poor ozone levels
- Report period
- January 1 to September 15, 2026
- France fires
- Close to 124,000 acres burned and 40,000 people forced from their homes
What people are saying
When we brought together the huge amount of data produced every day by CAMS, the most striking finding was that more than half of the world’s population was still exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution