Many of us use the word “hungry” to describe how we are feeling at least once a day. To some, “hungry” is the sensation felt ten minutes before their lunch break. To others, “hungry” is waiting thirty minutes at an upscale restaurant for an exotic dish. However, to 1.02 billion people on the planet, “hungry” goes far beyond our five minute stomach rumblings.

On a daily basis, these 1.02 billion people, a sixth of humankind, remain undernourished. A global economic crash has led to decreasing wages and increasing unemployment, and harvests around the world have been poor due to a variety of factors. Rice tungro disease has mutilated a vast amount of a key crop in the world’s diet, driving prices up due to a lower supply, and fertilizer imbalances have led to the malnourishment of consumers. Also contributing to the global food crisis is ozone, according to William Manning of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Manning stated that even a slight increase in a plant’s exposure to ozone may greatly change the productivity. Unfortunately, our ozone levels are rising, and plants do not respond favorably to such conditions. Although new laws concerning the environment have been passed, these laws only take into account the effects on human health. Humans need to be exposed to far more ozone than plants to show negative effects.

Throughout the day, ozone levels rise and fall. The average concentrations of ozone throughout the day are reported in the press. Manning’s group studied the effects of ozone on plants (oilseed rape, or Brassica napus) and found that two groups of plants showed significant differences when exposed to either a steady amount of ozone or to an unbalanced stream of ozone. Both groups were exposed to the same average level of ozone, but not to the same rate of ozone exposure. The group that experienced unbalanced ozone exposure, which mimics the growth conditions most plants face, showed reduced plant biomass (10 to 20 percent loss). Seed and oil production was even more dramatically affected.

Plants do contain a mechanism to minimize ozone damage. The mechanism, which is only effective over a short term rise in ozone levels, involves the stomata. By reducing the size of the pores of their leaves, ozone entry into the plant is reduced. Of course, carbon dioxide entry into the plant is also reduced, resulting in a decrease in photosynthesis, plant growth, and plant yield.

This makes ozone yet another factor that decreases plant yield, which leads to increased food prices – certainly of no help to those already facing starvation.

Discussion Question: What do you think we can do as individuals to help decrease global ozone levels?

News Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080603183309.htm

Journal Article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18328606