A warm blob of water lurking in the Pacific Ocean in 2014 and 2015 led to a spike in ozone levels across the western U.S., new research suggests. Those atmospheric conditions sped up the formation of ozone in the atmosphere, Jaffe added. That made the team suspect the blob may have fueled the ozone levels. Both sunlight and high temperatures fuel faster ozone-formation, whereas the wind blows away the basic building-block pollutants, making it harder to form ozone, Jaffe said. When they investigated ozone levels throughout the West, they found areas with the hottest, most stagnant air also had highly elevated ozone levels, compared with historical averages.

Source: Fox News February 23, 2017 10:52 UTC