Module 3 Notes

Secondary pollutants are products of the interaction of primary pollutants with

constituents of atmosphere and light from sun. 2NDARY pollutants can have harmful
effects to environment and humans
Include chems like

Sources of air pollution:

POINT SOURCE= Fixed locations=
Fugitive sources: open areas exposed to wind action e.g.result of land clearing
Area sources: well defined areas within which there are several air pollutants e.g.
small urban communities
Mobile sources: mobile sources that move from place to place while emitting
pollutants

Ozone tri-atomic form of oxygen essential to life on earth majority of atmospheric

97% found in stratosphere 14-50 km above earths surface where it forms natural
combines with oxygen, concentration here is less than 0.002 and this small quantity
shields plans, animals and humans from UV radiation. UV is absorbed by O3 turning
it into 02 and 0. Then they reform into 03

Review Q: Single Factory spewing shit on a hill is a point, area, fugitive or mobile
source?
A: Point source

Major atmospheric pollutants

Sulfur dioxide

Nitrogen oxide

Sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Chroloflurocarbons (CFCs) used to be wudeky used in spray cans and shit. They
migrate to the upper atmosphere and destroy the ozone layer since UV rays break
down CFCs into chlorine that breaks O3 or ozone apart. Cl attacks O3>creates ClO
and O2>ClO binds with 02>Cl is formed again and attacks more ozone (o3)

Thus a single atom of chlorine (cl) can elminate many O3 (ozone) molecules

Ozone concentrations have been decreasing specifically around the poles, with the
lowest being around there due to high Chlorine monoxide (ClO) concs.

Ozone destruction peaks over the southern hemisphere and persists throughout
spring. CFCs were phased out around the 1980s and hydroCFCs are used instead
MODULE 4

Because of absorbtion, reflection and scattering only 47-49% of insolation makes it

to the Earths surface
The surplus of energy at the equator is transported as sensible and latent heat to
higher latitudes
The sun is 150 million km from Earth, suns core is estimated to be 15 million
degrees
Thermonuclear processes in the sun generate a bunch of energy which is
transferred to the earth via radiation that travels in the forms of waves that release
energy when absorbed by an object
The electromagnetic waves travel at the constant speed of 300,000 km/second
(speed of light) in a vacuum
Wavelength determines if energy will be light, heat etc.
Wavelength expressed by greek letter lambda
Longer waves carry less energy than the shorter waves
Only a fraction of the radiation reaches the earth since only the atmosphere
interferes with it, solar constant is 1367.7 W/m
When solar radiation hits the atmosphere view first pic (scattering, absorbtion etc.)
Rayleigh scattering is the preferential scattering of the shortest wavelengths by air
molecules creating a blue sky
Solar rads that pass through the air unimpeded dis called transmitted radiation
ultimately absorbed at Earths surface
Insolation is a term used to describe the incoming solar rad

Effect o rad transmissed varies via solar angle; higher angles=more intense
warming, lower angles=less intense warming due to the energy being spread over a
wider area
Annual insolation (self explanatory). Lower latitiudes have intense warming. High
latitudes have less warming due to the suns rays striking the earth at a more
indirect angle
Albedo is the percentage of shortwave rad returning from a giben surface compared
to the amount of rad initially striking that surface (Snow albedo of 90%, clouds 60%,
black pavement 3%, water 10%)
Water has the highest albedo thus reflecting sunlight best when the sun is low on
the horizon and the water is a little choppy

Surplus of energy at equator is transported in two forms (sensible and latent heat)
to higher latitudes for a better balanced net rad
Sensible heat is heat transferred by conduction between molecules or convection as
fluid flows
Transfer of heat from molecule to molecule within a substance is conduction
Heat always flows from warmer to colder regions
The greater the temp diff the more rapid the heat transfer
Air is a bad conductor but can carry energy rapidly from different regions through
convection as a fluid/gases

Convection happens naturally, hot hair becomes buoyant and moves up, cooler
heavier air flows towards the surface, gets heated and the cycle repeats, vertical
exchange of heat is called free convection and the rising air bubbles are thermals
This cycle creates convective circulation (thermal cell in atmosphere)
If evaporation is a cooling process because heat is needed for the change in state,
condensation releases heat, melting uses heat, freezing releases heat, changing ice
to gas (sublimation) heat is used
If gas is turned back to ice, heat is released
Week 2 Readings and notes:
Ross Chapters 1-3
Meteorology is the study of weather and climatology which is the study of climate
Climate is decades worth of data, weather is conditions at a certain moment in time
Net result of human caused changes to climate=global warming

Earth-atmosphere system has 4 major parts:

Lithosphere: rocks
Biosphere:all life
Hydrosphere: all water, ice is cryosphere
atmosphere.

Pressure decreases with height in the atmosphere cuz pressure results from weight
of the overlying atmosphere i.e. highest pressure at the surface
Density decreases with height in the atmosphere because air is compressible

Layers of atmosphere: starting with the lowest

Troposphere: extends from the surface to the tropopause
Stratosphere
Mesosphere: temp decreases with height
Thermosphere: top layer,
Water vapour is the most variable gas in the atmosphere

Ch.3
When Temp is constant volume and pressure of a gas are inversely proportional this
is Charles law