-
acid precipitation
Acidic rain, snow or dry particles deposited from the air de to increased acids released by anthropogenic or natural resources.
-
aerosols
Minte particles or liqid droplets suspended in the air.
-
albedo
A description of a surface's reflective properties.
-
ambient air
The air immediately around us.
-
carbon management
Projects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel or to ameliorate their effects
-
carbon monoxide
Colorless, odorless, nonirritationg but highly toxic gas produced by incomplete combstion of fuel, incineration of biomass or solid wastes, etc.
-
chlorofluorocarbons
Chemical compounds with a carbon skeleton and one or more attached chlorine and fluorine atoms.
-
-
A description of the long term pattern of weather in a particular area.
-
convection currents
Rising or sinking air currents that stir the atmosphere and transport heat from one are to another. Convection currents also occur in water.
-
convectional pollutants
The seven substances identified by the Clean Air Act that make up the largest volume of air quality degradation.
-
Coriolis effect
The tendency for air above the Earth to be deflected to the right ( N. hemisphere) or to the left (S. hemisphere) because of the earth's rotation.
-
dust domes
High concentrations of dust and aerosols in the air over cities.
-
El Nino
A climatic change marked by shiftin of a large warm water pool from the western Pacific Ocean toward the east.
-
fugitive emissions
Substances that enter the air withot going throgh a smokestack, such as dust from soil erosion, strip mining, rock crushing.
-
greenouse effect
Trapping of heat by the earth's atmosphere, wich is transparent to incoming visible light waves, bt absorbs outgoing longwave radiation.
-
heat islands
Areas of higher temperatures around cities.
-
IPCC
A group of scientist from a wide variety of fields assembled by the United Nations to asses the current state of knowledge about climate change.
-
jet streams
Powerful winds or currents of air that circulate in shifting flows, similar to oceanic currents in extent and effect on climate.
-
Kyoto protocol
An international treaty adopted in 1997, in which 160 nations agreed to roll back CO2, methane and nitros oxide emissions.
-
latent heat
Stored energy in a form that is not detectable by ordinary senses.
-
Milankovitch cycles
Periodic variations in tilt. eccentricity and wobble in the earth's orbit, possibly responsible for cyclic weather changes.
-
monsoons
Seasonal reversals of wind patterns caused by the differential heating and cooling rates of the oceans and continents
-
nitrogen oxygens
Reactive gasses formed when nitrogen in fuel or air is heated with oxygen, or when bacteria or water oxidize nitrogen containing compounds.
-
ozone
Reactive molecule containin 3 oxygen atoms; dangerous pollutant in ambient air - but in the stratosphere protects us from uv radiation
-
particulate material
Atmospheric aerosols such as dust, ash, soots, lint, smoke, polle, spores, algal cells, droplets of liqiud and other suspended materials.
-
photochemical oxidants
Products of secondary atmospheric reactions, such as a smog.
-
stratosphere
The zone in the atmosphere axtending from the tropopause to about 50 km above the earth's surface.
-
sulfur dioxide
A colorless, corrosive gas directly damageing to both plants and animals.
-
temperature inversions
Atmospheric conditons in which a layer of warm air lies on top of cooler air and blocks normal convection currents.
-
troposphere
The layer of air nearest to the earth's surface; both temperature and pressure usually decrease with increasing altitude.
-
unconventional pollutants
Toxic or hazardous substances not listed in the original Clean Air Act becase they were not released in large quantities.
-
volatile organic compnds
Organic chemicals that evaporate readily and exist as gases in the air.
-
weather
The physical conditions of the atmosphere (moisture, temps, pressure and wind)
|
|