EARTHSC 1121 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Sulfur Dioxide, Wind Direction, Acid Rain
13 Apr 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Atmospheric composition: the preset atmosphere is comprised of a mix of gases, nitrogen 78, oxygen, other gases (argon, co2, methane, sulfur dioxide, ozone, radon, aerosols: tiny suspended particles, liquid droplets, solid dusts. Atmospheric pollution: humans add gases and aerosols to the atmosphere, fossil fuels combustion. Industrial processes: often these additions cause environmental harm, acid rain: sulfate and nitrate acidify precipitation, greenhouse gas: co2 and ch4 trap atmospheric heat. Earth"s carbon: most abundant element in the earth, 1. Magnesium: carbon is concentrated toward the surface of the earth not the most abundant, a lot in oceans and atmosphere is secondary, ultimately ad to have come from volcanic eruptions. Each carbon reservoir has its own characteristic fingerprint: isotopes. Recall: different isotopes of an element behave chemically in the same way. Light: electromagnetic radiation, a mechanism for energy transport, how we see the world, reflection, absorption.
