Air Resources Flashcards
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is temperature, pressure, precipitation, humidity and wind…it is DAILY.
Climate is long term weather patterns. ITS OVER TIME
What are the different layers of the atmosphere? What are some characteristics of each? I mentioned in class that you should focus on knowing about two of these atmospheric layers in particular.
Troposphere:
Stratosphere:
Mesosphere:
Thermosphere:
Troposphere:
- adjacent to the earth.
- *Where weather takes place
- 18km up from the surface at the equator.
- 8km from the poles
- 75% of total atmosphere mass. Ozone existing here is bad for it traps heat
Stratosphere:
- top of troposphere up to 18km-50km.
- air doesn’t move
- Ozone occurs in stratosphere. **Ozone here is good because it protects from harmful sun radiation
Mesosphere:
top of stratosphere… 80km up
Thermosphere:
hottest sphere, because it is the outmost layer and it is getting all the sun.
What are “criteria pollutants”?
Criteria pollutants are the only air pollutants with national air quality standards that define allowable concentrations of these substances in ambient air.
Clean Air Act of 1970…poses most serious threat to humans. These include:
- Sulfur dioxide
- Nitrogen oxides
• Carbon monoxide
-Photochemical oxidants
• Particulates
-Lead
• Hydrocarbons
Not listed as a serious pollutant **carbon dioxide. Can’t be regulated
What is the “greenhouse effect”?
A greenhouse creates heat. Some is absorbed by plant soil but does not go out with same amount of energy.
**50% of sunlight is reflected back into space
25% is absorbed by plants and ground
25% to the atmosphere/earth’s surface
How does it operate?
How it works: energy low quality and energy trapped atmosphere. (2nd law of
thermodynamics?)
What elements contribute to it?
Carbon Dioxide, Ozone, Methane
