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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Wildfire smoke can help form ground-level ozone, but it does not produce ozone in a fixed amount everywhere: fire-emitted gases react in sunlight, and the chemistry changes as a smoke plume travels. Forest carbon uptake can rise or fall during smoke exposure. Diffuse sunlight may help some shaded leaves photosynthesize, while smoke-related effects on gas exchange and ozone injury can reduce uptake. The result depends on the plume, forest, and conditions—not on a universal “smoke helps” or “smoke harms” rule.
How wildfire smoke leads to ground-level ozone
Fires release nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and particles. Ozone is generally not emitted by the fire as the main combustion product; it forms later when precursor gases react in the atmosphere, with sunlight driving key reactions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency describes fire particles and gas-phase precursors as able to react in the atmosphere to form ozone in its March 2022 report, Wildland Fire Activity and Modeled Impacts on O3 and PM2.5.
Whether ozone accumulates depends on the mixture and concentration of precursors, sunlight, plume age, and competing chemical processes. Smoke can therefore raise ozone downwind in some situations without every fire producing elevated ozone at every location.
Why fresh and aged plumes can behave differently
A 2025 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics study by Campuzano-Jost and colleagues found that fire-driven ozone production changed as plumes aged. In fresher smoke, the chemistry was NOx-saturated; in aged smoke, it shifted toward NOx-limited conditions, making the supply of NOx a central constraint on additional ozone production.
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The study also reported that aerosol-related suppression of photochemistry reduced near-field ozone production by about 70% in its measure of parts per billion of Ox (ozone plus nitrogen dioxide) per part per million of carbon monoxide for plume ages under 20 hours. That is a study-specific metric and result, not a general reduction applicable to every fire. The authors also reported that introducing anthropogenic NOx into VOC-rich fire plumes could produce additional ozone, sometimes more than 50 ppb above background. That reported outcome likewise describes the studied conditions, not a prediction for all downwind communities.
Does smoke increase or decrease forest carbon uptake?
There is no single response for all forests. Smoke can change the amount and quality of light reaching a canopy, while its particles and gases can also affect plant gas exchange. Forest type, canopy structure, smoke intensity and duration, and water availability all matter. The measured outcome matters too: leaf photosynthesis, whole-ecosystem carbon exchange, and long-term recovery after a fire are not interchangeable.
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| Evidence | What was observed | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| Rastogi and colleagues, Geophysical Research Letters (2022): a two-day smoke event at a moist temperate coniferous old-growth forest in the western United States | Ecosystem photosynthesis rose by approximately 10%. Ecosystem-scale stomatal conductance, inferred from carbonyl sulfide measurements, rose by 41%. | A short event at one moist old-growth site; it does not establish a typical response for other forests or longer exposures. |
| 2024 field experiment in a ponderosa pine forest during several wildfire-smoke events | Photosynthesis declined, with evidence consistent with stomatal plugging. The authors also considered effects on gas exchange and biogenic VOC emissions. | A contrasting field result under different conditions, not a direct replication of the two-day old-growth event. |
How diffuse light can temporarily help
Smoke particles scatter some incoming sunlight. In a dense canopy, the resulting diffuse light can reach shaded leaves that receive less direct light, potentially increasing their contribution to photosynthesis. In the 2022 old-growth forest event, incoming radiation fell while air temperature increased and relative humidity decreased; despite those conditions, the authors observed the approximately 10% rise in ecosystem photosynthesis. They considered improved illumination of shade leaves a likely cause and linked higher productivity and transpiration to greater soil-moisture drawdown.
This mechanism is conditional. A forest needs leaves that can use the redistributed light, and water availability and other environmental conditions influence whether a gain is possible. One event cannot establish how another canopy will respond.
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How smoke exposure can reduce photosynthesis
The ponderosa pine field experiment found reduced photosynthesis during multiple smoke events, with evidence consistent with smoke particles plugging stomata—the small openings through which leaves exchange gases. Smoke intensity and duration can affect the response. This particulate-exposure pathway is distinct from ozone injury, even though both can affect plant gas exchange or photosynthesis.
Ozone is a separate plant stressor
Ozone can enter leaves through stomata and disrupt plant processes, including photosynthesis and metabolism. The EPA’s 2021 comparative assessment describes resulting reductions in carbon assimilation and growth. This is a gas-phase pollutant injury pathway; it should not be conflated with smoke particles scattering light or depositing on leaf surfaces.
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Immediate smoke effects are not the same as post-fire carbon recovery
A forest exposed to a passing plume and an ecosystem recovering after it burns are different cases. A 2023 PNAS study of California ecosystems, using ground measurements and satellite observations to assess carbon uptake over the past century, reported that recent increases in fire area and severity reduced carbon uptake compared with unburned and overstocked controls. That finding concerns fire legacy and ecosystem recovery, not the immediate effect of smoke on an intact, unburned canopy.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What determines the outcome?
- Plume age: Fresh and aged smoke can have different ozone chemistry.
- Smoke intensity and duration: These affect how strongly and for how long plants are exposed.
- Forest type and canopy structure: The potential benefit of diffuse light depends partly on how much shaded foliage can use it.
- Water availability: It influences plant gas exchange and whether increased photosynthesis and transpiration can be sustained.
- What is being measured: Immediate photosynthesis, ecosystem carbon flux, ozone injury, and post-fire recovery describe distinct effects.
These distinctions explain why wildfire smoke can contribute to ozone formation while producing mixed carbon-uptake responses among forests: atmospheric chemistry evolves as smoke travels, and canopy responses depend on local conditions and the exposure pathway.
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