How Car Exhaust NOx Drives Smog Formation

Car exhaust releases nitrogen oxides, or NOx, that help drive smog formation in the lower atmosphere. In the troposphere, sunlight splits nitrogen dioxide (NO2) into nitric oxide (NO) and oxygen atoms. Those oxygen atoms then combine with O2 to make ozone (O3). Ozone can also react with NO to reform NO2 and O2, so this cycle...

A mixture of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide is generally referred to as NOx. As a by-product found in automobile exhaust, NOx can be harmful to the environment, forming damaging tropospheric ozone.

At high temperatures in the combustion chamber of an engine, nitrogen and oxygen from the air can react to form nitric oxide and nitrogen di...