Ozone is a greenhouse gas and can cause conditions similar to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. So it is a concern to know that airline flights across the globe are releasing ozone into the atmosphere. To determine which flights were releasing the most ozone was the objective of the science project taken on by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The MIT team used a global chemistry-transport model to check which areas of the globe were most likely to generate the most ozone. The study showed that the area over the Pacific was the most sensitive to ozone creation and that the flights that were taking off from Australia and New Zealand were the ones that were generating the most of this green house gas.

The study estimated that 1 kg of aircraft emissions, specifically oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) such as nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide, will result in an extra 15 kg of ozone being produced in a year in the region. This is three times higher than the production in North America and five times higher than the figures for Europe.

The researchers also found that there was 40 percent more production of NO_x in the month of October as compared to the month of April. While there is no immediate manner in which this production can be curbed, this scientific experiment has shown up a potential danger to the environment in the Pacific region.