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| The atmosphere consists of what percent nitrogen gas, oxygen and radon? | 78% nitrogen, 21 % oxygen, 1 % radon |
| 75% of the atmosphere's MASS is contained in the _________ | troposphere (bottom layer) |
| List the layers of the atmosphere from top to bottom. | Thermosphere Mesosphere Stratosphere Troposphere |
| In the troposphere, temperatures decline as you increase in altitude until you reach the boundary called the _____________. | tropopause |
| T/F: As you move up in altitude through the four layers of atmosphere, the temperature gets increasingly lower. | False - The temperature decreases in the first layer as you get higher up, but then goes up, down, up. |
| In what layer of the atmosphere is the ozone layer found? | stratosphere |
| What is the importance of the ozone layer? | It reduces the amount of UV radiation that reaches Earth's surface. UV light can damage living tissue and induce DNA mutations. |
| __________ pulls gas molecules toward Earth's surface. | gravity |
| Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude. | true - At higher altitudes, fewer molecules are pulled down by gravity. |
| Why does humid heat (i.e., summer in Atlanta) feel hotter than dry heat (i.e., summer in Arizona)? | When it is humid, the air is already holding as much moisture as it can, so your sweat evaporates more slowly, and the body can not cool itself efficiently. |
| describe convective circulation | warm air rises, cools, expands and descends |
| Definition of weather | local physical properties over a short time |
| Definition of climate | pattern of atmospheric conditions over a large region over a long time |
| The boundaries between two air masses that differ in temperature and density is called a | front |
| Temperature inversion is also known as | thermal inversion |
| Temperature inversion is when | a layer of cool air occurs beneath warmer air |
| Sunlight near the equator produces | Hadley Cells |
| As Earth rotates on its axis, north-south air currents of convective cells appear to be deflected from a straight path; this is called the | Coriolis effect |
| Natural sources of pollution include wind (blows dust around), volcanic eruptions, burning vegetation (smoke and soot), and... | sulfur dioxide |
| T/F: Primary pollutants are produced when pollutants react with constituents of the atmosphere. | false - Primary polluntants are directly harmful, secondary pollutants react with the atmosphere and then become harmful. |
| Name 3 aspects of the Clean Air Act of 1970. | 1. regulations regarding acidic deposition (acid rain) 2. regulations regarding ozone depletion 3. introduced market-based incentives |
| Name the 6 "criteria pollutants" that the EPA has established maximum allowable concentrations. | carbon monoxide - colorless, odorless; sulfur dioxide - colorless, pungent odor; nitrogen dioxide - odor and reddish color; tropospheric ozone; particulate matter; lead |
| VOC stands for? | volatile organic compound |
| T/F: tf VOCs are only produced by human activity. | false - Human activity accounts for half of VOC emissions, but many tons of VOCs are released from natural sources (plants and animals) every year. |
| T/F: Air pollution has decreased since 1970. | true - New technologies such as catalytic converters, electrostatic precipitators, and scrubbers helped to reduce pollutants. |
| T/F - Industrial smog is caused by burning coal or oil as well as from car emissions. | false - industrial smog = from burning coal and oil only |
| Photochemical smog is caused by the reaction of car exhaust and... | sun's production of ozone |
| T/F: One major factor in the depletion of the ozone layer was CFCs. | true - CFCs are chlorofluorocarbons |
| T/F: The ozone hole is an area of ozone depletion over Africa. | false - over Antarctica! |
| In 1987, an international treaty was signed by 180 countries that agreed to cut CFC production in half. This was called the... | Montreal Protocol |
| Since the Montreal Protocol, the production and use of ozone-depleting compounds has fallen by... | 95% |
| T/F: Acidic deposition refers to deposits of acidic pollutants from the atmosphere onto Earth's surface via rain, fog, gases, or dry particles. | True |
| T/F: In addition to harming the soil, lakes and rivers, crops and forests, acidic deposition can also erode stone buildings, erase writing from tombstones, and damage stone statues. | True |
| T/F: Advances in air pollution control have largely eliminated acidic deposition. | False - Acidic precipitation had only decreased 10-15% as of 2000. |
| T/F: Outdoor air contains higher concentrations of pollutants than indoor air. | False - In 1998, indoor air pollution caused 2.2 million deaths worldwide, while outdoor pollution caused 500,000 deaths. |
| In developing countries, indoor air pollution is primarily caused by... | burning fuel for cooking and heating |
| In the developed world, the most dangerous indoor pollutants are... | tobacco smoke and radon |
| Radon is a radioactive gas that... | seeps up through the ground |
| How has global warming affected the Maldives? | ocean levels are rising due to melting icecaps and warming ocean temperatures (which expands the ocean water) - higher sea levels causes flooding and salt water intrudes on their drinking water |
| T/F Global warming causes hurricanes and tsunamis. | False - It doesn't CAUSE them, but with water levels higher, the storms are more damaging and may last longer. |
| Difference between global climate change and global warming? | Global climate change includes multiple things - changes in temperature, precipitation, and storms. Global warming is just increase in Earth's average surface temperature. |
| Some climate change is normal but what two human activities are speeding up those changes? | fossil fuel combustion, deforestation |
| T/F: The greenhouse effect is a relatively new phenomenon. | False: The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon that has existed for billions of years. BUT human activity has ENHANCED the effect. |
| T/F: Greenhouse gases are baaaaaad. | False: Greenhouse gases are simply the gases in the atmosphere that absorb radiation. |
| Name some greenhouse gases. | water vapor, ozone, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and halocarbons (includes CFCs) |
| What are CFCs? | chloroflurocarbons (bad!!) |
| What is global warming potential? | The relative ability of one molecule of a given greenhouse gas to contribute to global warmin, duh. |
| What greenhouse gas contributes most to global warming? | carbon dioxide |
| Why is carbon dioxide the "primary greenhouse gas"? | Because of its abundance in the atmosphere (not its global warming potential/potency) |
| What has caused the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? | burning fossil fuels, deforestation |
| How does deforestation add to carbon dioxide in the air? | Forests serve as "carbon sinks" - in other words, they absorb more carbon dioxide than they emit sooooo their removal leads to more carbon dioxide left in the atmosphere. |
| What causes the greenhouse gas methane? | tapping into fossil fuel deposits, livestock waste (nice), landfills, growing certain types of crops (such as rice) |
| Where does the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide come from? | chemical plants, car emissions, fertilizers |
| Difference between Clean Air Acts (1970/1990), Montreal Protocol, and Kyoto Protocol? | Clean Air Acts - to address air pollution IN THE U.S., also introduced emissions trading program. Montreal Protocol - 180 nations signed to cut CFC production in half. Kyoto Protocol - to reduce emissions of SIX GREENHOUSE GASES. U.S. did not sign this. |
| What is the most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere? | water vapor (no, not carbon dioxide! that's very abundant and THE highest contributer to global warming) |
| What two things elements have a COOLING EFFECT on the lower atmosphere? | aerosols and volcanic eruptions |
| What are Milankovitch cycles? | changes in the Earth's rotation and orbit around the sun (which results in slight changes in the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface at different latitudes over the long term) |
| What are El Nino and El Nina? | This is very complex. The most simple explanation is: El Nino - WARM water moves EAST in the Pacific. El Nina - COLD water moves WEST in the Pacific |
| What is/are "proxy indicators"? | data that tells us about the climate long ago |
| What are four ways that scientists find proxy indicators? | drilling into ice, drilling into underwater sediment, coral reefs, and tree rings |
| What is the IPCC? | Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
| Essay question: What are some ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions? | 1) Use high-efficiency appliances, lightbulbs and use them LESS OFTEN. 2) Use alternate/renewable forms of electricity (hyrdro, wind). 3) Drive hybrid or electric car. 4) Drive less (carpool, public transportation) or not at all (walk or ride a bike!) |
