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The conclusions of science depend on experiments. Experiments are constant attempts to establish the correctness or fallacy of thoughts and ideas. Thus, experimentation is the way science attempts to settle controversy. When well-designed experiments are performed and analyzed, the controversy may be settled. But the new knowledge derived from well-run experiments also engenders new controversy, and this becomes a part of the creative growth of science.

The history of science knows scores of instances where an investigator was in the possession of all the important facts for a new theory but simply failed to ask the right questions.
Ernst Mayr

High concentrations of ozone near ground level can be harmful to people, animals, crops, and other materials. Ground-level ozone can cause shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, headaches, nausea, and eye and throat irritation. People who suffer from lung diseases such as emphysema, bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma and colds have even more trouble breathing when the air is polluted. These effects can be worse in children and exercising adults. Ozone may increase the susceptibility of the lungs to infections, allergens, and other pollutants. Medical studies have shown that ozone damages lung tissue and that unhealthful effects may continue for days after exposure has ended.

Ground-level (or tropospheric) ozone is created through the interactions of man-made (and natural) emissions of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides in the presence of heat and sunlight. Cars and gasoline-burning engines are large sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs also come from consumer products such as paints, insecticides, and cleaners as well as industrial solvents and chemical manufacturing. Nitrogen oxides (NOx), the other chemical precursor of ozone, are produced when ever fossil fuels are burned and are primarily produced by motor vehicles and power plants. Many factors impact ground-level ozone development, including temperature, wind speed and direction, time of day, and driving patterns. Due to its dependence on weather conditions, ozone is typically a summertime pollutant and a chief component of summertime smog.

All of these areas are all rich areas to develop additional research on ground-level ozone and the effect of ozone on organisms. If we can eliminate the controversy about the effects of ozone on the biosphere, work will need to be done to find alternatives to the fossil fuels that produce the chemical precursors.

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