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Atmospheric Sciences
Atmospheric science is the study of the atmosphere, its processes, and the interaction of the atmosphere with other systems, including the effects other systems have on the atmosphere and visa versa. Fields in Atmospheric Sciences include Meteorology, Climatology, and Aeronomy. Ask and answer questions about Atmospheric Sciences in this category.
7,660 Questions
What is the main regulator of CO2 in the atmosphere because CO2 desolves easily in it?
The main regulator of CO2 in the atmosphere is the world's oceans. As CO2 dissolves in water, it forms carbonic acid, which can then be stored in the ocean or released back into the atmosphere. This process plays a crucial role in regulating the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.
How does cellular respiration effect carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
Cellular respiration releases carbon dioxide as a byproduct. This carbon dioxide is then released into the atmosphere. As more organisms undergo cellular respiration, more carbon dioxide is added to the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect and global warming.
What affect does living organisms have on the composition of earths atmosphere?
The amount of Oxygen started to increase as more plants and animals appeared. The plants took in Carbon dioxide and gave out Oxygen. So, overtime the amount of Carbon dioxode (which was high) decreased, and oxygen increased.
Does Nitrogen makes up 78 percent of the Earth's atmosphere?
Yes, that is correct. Nitrogen makes up about 78% of Earth's atmosphere, while oxygen makes up about 21%.
What is earths atmosphere two gases?
Nitrogen and oxygen make up the majority of the atmosphere, but there are other gases as well, such as carbon dioxide, ozone, and helium.
Are cumulonimbus clouds associated with warm fronts?
Yes, cumulonimbus clouds are often associated with warm fronts. As warm air rises over a colder air mass along a warm front, it can lead to the development of cumulonimbus clouds and potentially thunderstorms.
What phase is present at room temperature and normal atmospheric pressure?
At room temperature and normal atmospheric pressure, most substances exist in either the solid or liquid phase. Some exceptions include noble gases like helium and neon, which exist as gases at these conditions.
What does wet bulb depression depend on?
Wet bulb depression depends on the humidity level in the air. It is the difference between the dry bulb temperature and the wet bulb temperature, and it indicates the cooling potential of evaporative cooling systems. A higher wet bulb depression indicates that the air is drier and has a greater capacity to absorb moisture.
Which region layer is largely responsible for the weather experienced at the earth's surface?
The troposphere, the lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere, is largely responsible for the weather experienced at the Earth's surface. This is where most weather phenomena like clouds, precipitation, and temperature changes occur.
Why is there more pressure in lower atmosphere?
Air molecules are piled up on each other in our atmosphere. The lower the air molecules, the more weight they're under causing more pressure. Higher up the molecules have more space to move around in resulting in lower pressure.
Which layer of atmosphere does most space debris burn up?
Most space debris burns up in the mesosphere, which is the layer of the atmosphere located between the stratosphere and the thermosphere. This is due to the high temperatures generated by the friction between the debris and the air molecules at this altitude.
What layer of the earths atmosphere is closet to earths surface?
The lowest is the troposphere, which is the layer that provides most of our weather. It contains about 80% of the Earth's air, but extends only to a height of about 11 miles (17 kilometers) at the Equator and less at the Poles.
What is the lowest part of atmosphere is the?
The lowest part of the atmosphere is called the troposphere. It is where most weather events occur and contains approximately 75% of the atmosphere's total mass.
The current oxygen content in the atmosphere is about the same as it was millions of years ago. Oxygen levels on Earth have been relatively stable over long periods due to the balance between oxygen production and consumption by various processes such as photosynthesis and respiration.
What was the composition of the atmosphere when the earth was first formed?
When Earth was first formed, its atmosphere was composed mainly of hydrogen and helium, with smaller amounts of methane and ammonia. Over time, volcanic activity introduced water vapor, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen, eventually leading to the atmosphere we have today.
What is the lowest layer of the earths troposphere?
The lowest layer of Earth's troposphere is called the planetary boundary layer (PBL). It typically extends from the Earth's surface up to a few hundred to a couple of thousand meters in height, depending on various factors such as weather conditions and terrain. In this layer, mixing of air, pollutants, and other substances is more pronounced due to interaction with the Earth's surface.
Earth's primordial atmosphere most likely included?
Primordial Earth's atmosphere likely consisted of gases such as hydrogen, helium, methane, ammonia, and water vapor. These gases were formed from volcanic outgassing and interactions with comets and asteroids. Over time, the atmosphere changed as oxygen began to accumulate due to the process of photosynthesis by early microorganisms.
Which part of the atmosphere did the SR-71 fly in?
The SR-71, also known as the Blackbird, flew in the stratosphere, which is the second major layer of Earth's atmosphere. This high-flying aircraft operated at altitudes between 80,000 and 85,000 feet, allowing it to travel at speeds exceeding Mach 3.
The region with the highest insolation is the Sahara Desert in Africa. This area receives some of the most intense sunlight on Earth due to its location near the equator and lack of cloud cover.
Why are there different layers in the atmosphere?
The different layers of the atmoshpere are classified by their temperature the troposhere gets colder as you go up because you are going farter away from the earth. When you reach the stratosphere it gets warmer because the ozone layer and the mesoshere is freezing cold. and the thermoshere is for than 2000 F.
What do you call the envelope of gas around the earth?
The envelope of gas around the Earth is called the atmosphere. It consists of layers of gases that support life on Earth by regulating temperature, protecting from the Sun's radiation, and providing the air we breathe.
Where are jet streams located in the atmosphere?
The polar jet stream is, on average, 10 kilometers (6 miles) in the atmosphere, which places it near the top of the Troposphere. The subtropical jet stream tends to be a little higher - around 13 kilometers - because the air is warmer. Warmer air takes up more space, therefore the top of the atmosphere is higher.
Typically the jet stream is found between 200 and 300 hectopascals (hPa, which is equivalent to millibars, or mb). In atmospheric science, the altitude in the atmosphere is often given in terms of what the atmospheric pressure is for reasons that we won't get into. In any event, these are the levels we look at for the jet stream.
The layer of the atmosphere where the jet stream resides is not completely clear. The most common definition given for the top of the troposphere is where the temperature stops decreasing and begins increasing. This is almost always at altitudes above 200mb. Therefore, the jet stream is generally found in the troposphere, near the tropopause. It is rarely as high as the stratosphere.
What is the insulating blanket of gases surrounding the earth called?
The insulating blanket of gases surrounding the Earth is called the atmosphere. It is composed of various gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide, and plays a crucial role in regulating the Earth's temperature and climate.
What prevents oxygen from escaping from earth?
Earth's gravity is the main force preventing oxygen from escaping into space. The atmosphere also plays a role in trapping oxygen through a combination of molecular interactions and the presence of other gases. Additionally, the magnetosphere helps shield Earth's atmosphere from the solar wind, which could strip gases away.
Is sky blue because of dust particles scattering in atmosphere?
As light travels through the atmosphere, hitting those molecules along the way, more and more of the shorter wavelengths are scattered. By the time the light reaches your eye, all the blue and violet has been scattered out, leaving only the longer wavelengths in the sky for you to see. That's why a setting sun turns the sky red, orange, yellow and all shades in between. All of that scattered blue and violet is busy creating a blue daytime sky somewhere else in a different time zone.
This is all happening in a clear sky, with mostly nitrogen and oxygen doing the scattering. If you add other molecules into the mix -- molecules in smog, for instance -- the picture starts to change.
Smog, technically speaking, is not the demon it's made out to be. Smog is simply a combination of the words "smoke" and "fog," and it comes from lots of different sources, some totally natural. It's composed mostly of aerosols, solid or liquid particles suspended in the sky. Volcanic eruptions produce heavy smog when they send tons of volcanic ash into the sky. Forest fires do the same when all of that burning matter billows upward, turning the sky nearly opaque.
These natural causes of smog are negligible in big cities, though. Factory and coal-power exhaust, car exhaust and leaking gas, as well as the byproducts of burning plastics and aerosol spray cans send far more particles into the atmosphere than any natural events do. This smog is a mixture of chlorofluorocarbons (greenhouse gases), hydrocarbons, sulfuric acid and lots of other unpleasant pollutants [source: Health and Energy]. In major cities, smog is this human-made mixture of chemicals.
Here's where the confusion comes in. Whereas volcanic smog and forest-fire smog are composed of fairly uniform aerosols, man-made smog is composed of countless different molecules and different types of matter, and all of these aerosol particles vary in size. Size is the deciding factor in whether aerosols enhance a sunset's colors or hinder them.
When something like a volcanic eruption sends particles into the air, it produces smog that blocks only certain wavelength of light. As sunlight moves through this atmosphere, it encounters nitrogen and oxygen, which scatter the blue end of the spectrum, and volcanic ash, which is larger and scatters a good amount of the longer yellow wavelengths, too. What results is an incredibly red sunset until the ash clears.
But smog from a smoke stack or car is composed of particles of so many different sizes, the scattering is nearly indiscriminant. Rayleigh scattering is no longer in effect, since instead of the atmosphere scattering only certain wavelength as sunlight passes through it, it scatters everything. The aerosols in smog are varied, and relatively large, to the point that they can scatter every wavelength of light. The result is a sunset with no colors at all. The sky is simply a hazy, grayish white, with all of the yellow, orange and red having been scattered out before they could reach the eye.
Chances are, if you're seeing an especially colorful sunset in L.A., it's because the smog is low that day, not because it's heavy.
