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Aerosols
Tiny solid and liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere
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Air
A mixture of many discrete gases, of which nitrogen and oxygen are most abundant, in which varying quantities of tiny solid and liquid particles are suspended
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Atmosphere
- The gaseous portion of a planet, the planet’s envelope of air; one of the
- traditional subdivisions of Earth’s physical environment.
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Climate
- A description f aggregate weather conditions; the sum of all statistical
- weather information that helps describe a place or region
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Biosphere
The totality of life forms on Earth
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Environmental lapse rate
The rate of temperature decrease with height in the troposphere
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Lithosphere
- thin outer portion of earth: made up of crust and upper mantle, solid
- rock, part of the earth
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Mesosphere
“middle atmosphere” – between thermosphere and stratosphere
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Ozone
A molecule of oxygen containing three oxygen atoms
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Photosynthesis
- The production of sugars and starches by plants using air, water,
- sunlight, and chlorophyll. In the process, atmospheric carbon dioxide is
- changed to organic matter and oxygen is released
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Primary pollutants
A pollutant emitted directly from an identifiable sources
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Radiosonde
- A lightweight package of weather instruments fitted with a radio
- transmitter and carried aloft by a balloon
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Secondary Pollutants
- A pollutant that is produced in the atmosphere by chemical reactions
- occurring among primary pollutants
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Stratopause
The boundary between the stratosphere and the mesosphere
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Stratosphere
- The zone of the atmosphere above the troposphere characterize at first by
- isothermal conditions and then a gradual temperature increase. Earth’s ozone is
- concentrated here
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Temperature Inversion
- A layer in the atmosphere of limited depth where the temperature
- increases rather than decreases with height
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Thermosphere
- The zone of he atmosphere beyond the mesosphere in which there is a
- rapid rise in temperature with height
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Troposphere
- The lowermost layer of the atmosphere marked by considerable turbulence
- and, in general, a decrease in temperature with increasing height.
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Tropoause
The boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere
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Weather
The state of the atmosphere at any given time
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