The Atomsphere Flashcards
Current composition
- 78 N
- 21 O
- 0.04 Co2
- 1 combined rare gasses
Daily fluctuations on co2
Lowest at midday (most photosynthesis)
Yearly fluctuation of co2
Lowest at September (autumn)
Gasses needed for natural processes
- nitrogen
- oxygen
- water vapour
Where is the ozone layer
The stratosphere
Monoatomic diatomic triatomic
Oxygen oxygen ozone
Delaying the escape of IR
Absorbed as heat
Heat distribution
Most concentrated in tropical regions (transported by ocean currents)
Ocean currents
Directed by surface winds- distributes dissolved nutrients
Transport of water vapour
Wind moves water to places that don’t naturally get precipitation
Importance of the earth’s atmospheric pressure
Water stays liquid ( if it was lower water would be vapour)
Order of the atmosphere
- tropo
- strato
- meso
- thermo
Wavelengths order
Uv is the shortest (cancer caused)
IR is the longest (greenhouse effect)
What happens to wavelengths once absorbed
Remitted as longer wavelengths
Greenhouse gasses importance
Keeps the temperature stable (it would be 33* colder without)
Ecological impacts of anthropogenic influence
Changing the composition of the atmosphere and all the processes on earth
Methane biological use
Anaerobic bacterial respiration
Nitrous oxides produced (human)
Car exhausts
CFCs use
Aerosols
Tropospheric ozone
Breaks down nitrous oxides to react with the oxygen
Ecological change effects on plants
- organisms range of tolerance is exceeded
- plants growth varies
- deeper roots to reach eroded soil
- timing of events varies eg flowering
Changing food supply
Predator and prey interrelations
Colonisation- changing dynamic
Some species prosper with ecological change eg bats
Environmental change impacts on habitats
Habitat fragmentation and small populations become isolated so there is a smaller gene pool causes inbreeding and less repopulation
Jet streams
Control the move en of air west to east in the upper troposphere
Water temp and density (pressure change)
Polar and tropical regions (30-60*)
Coriolis force
High and low pressure spiral
Change in wind direction
Extreme weather events (flooding and drought)
Less ice
Lass albedo
(Feedback loop)
Ecological change effects on habitats
- wetlands suffer droughts and floods (inconsistent water distribution)
Ecological change effects on animals
- timing, distance and distribution of migration varies
- species range of tolerance is exceeded
