In summer, ozone pollution levels at Wicken Fen (and in other rural areas of East Anglia) frequently exceed UK government guidelines and tend to be higher than anywhere else in the UK. Ground-level ozone (a cocktail of air pollutants reacting with sunlight which is toxic to both humans and vegetation) is set to get worse as temperatures rise. A Royal Society study Ground-level ozone in the 21st century: future trends, impacts and policy implications in 2008 found that ozone pollution threatened human health, food security and environmental protection and called for global action to address ozone and its causes.

For more information see the Air Quality Archive. This site will also give you current pollution forecasts by area.

- back -