Measuring the impact of global tropospheric ozone, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide concentrations on biodiversity loss

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of air pollutants, including mono-nitrogen oxides (NOx), nitrous oxide (N2O), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on ecological footprint, habitat area, food supply, and biodiversity in a panel of thirty-four developed and developing countries, over the period of 1995–2014. The results reveal that NOx and SO2 emissions both have a negative relationship with ecological footprints, while N2O emission and real GDP per capita have a direct relationship with ecological footprints. NOx has a positive relationship with forest area, per capita food supply and biological diversity while CO2 emission and GHG emission have a negative impact on food production. N2O has a positive impact on forest area and biodiversity, while SO2 emissions have a negative relationship with them. SO2 emission has a direct relationship with per capita food production, while GDP per capita significantly affected per capita food production and food supply variability across countries. The overall results reveal that SO2, CO2, and GHG emissions affected potential habitat area, while SO2 and GHG emissions affected the biodiversity index. Trade liberalization policies considerably affected the potential habitat area and biological diversity in a panel of countries. •HighlightsTo examine the impact of NOx, N2O, CO2 and SO2 emissions on biodiversity loss.•Ecological footprint, forest, and food production are used for biodiversity index.•N2O emissions and per capita income both influenced ecological footprints.•SO2 and GHG emissions negatively affected biodiversity index.•CO2 emissions and trade affected potential habitat area in a panel of countries.