ENVIRSC 1A03 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Mean Free Path, Water Vapor, Atmosphere Of Earth
Document Summary
The atmosphere is a mixture of gas molecules, microscopically small suspended particles of solid and liquid, and falling precipitation. The meteorology is the study of atmosphere and the processes (such as cloud formation, lighting and wind movement) that cause what we refer to as the weather . Weather is distinct from climate in that the former deals with short-term phenomena and the latter with long-term patterns. Climate is what you expect but weather is what you get. Climatologist and meteorologist study the same thing but in different scale. Most of the atmosphere is contained within a relatively shallow envelope surrounding the oceans and continents. Because of the shallowness of the atmosphere, its motions over large areas are primary horizontally. However, the vertical motions also determine the atmospheric behavior: composition of the atmosphere: Molecules in the atmosphere can be exchanged with the earth"s surface through physical processes (volcanic eruptions) or biological processes (plant and animal respiration).