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Although individual CO 2 molecules have a short residence time in the atmosphere, it takes an extremely long time for carbon dioxide levels to sink after sudden rises, due to e.g. volcanic eruptions or human activity [17] and among the many long-lasting greenhouse gases, it is the most important because it makes up the largest fraction of the ...
Earth's natural greenhouse effect makes life as we know it possible, and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere plays a significant role in providing for the relatively high temperature on Earth. The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal radiation from a planetary atmosphere warms the planet's surface beyond the temperature it would have in ...
According to the American National Center for Atmospheric Research, "The total mean mass of the atmosphere is 5.1480 × 10 18 kg with an annual range due to water vapor of 1.2 or 1.5 × 10 15 kg, depending on whether surface pressure or water vapor data are used; somewhat smaller than the previous estimate.
The atmosphere envelops the earth and extends hundreds of kilometres from the surface. It consists mostly of inert nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%) and argon (0.9%). [4] Some trace gases in the atmosphere, such as water vapour and carbon dioxide, are the gases most important for the workings of the climate system, as they are greenhouse gases which allow visible light from the Sun to penetrate to ...
Carbon dioxide is soluble in water and is found in groundwater, lakes, ice caps, and seawater. It is a trace gas in Earth's atmosphere at 421 parts per million (ppm), [a] or about 0.042% (as of May 2022) having risen from pre-industrial levels of 280 ppm or about 0.028%.
The atmosphere of Earth is composed of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), argon (0.9%), carbon dioxide (0.04%) and trace gases. [2] Most organisms use oxygen for respiration ; lightning and bacteria perform nitrogen fixation which produces ammonia that is used to make nucleotides and amino acids ; plants , algae , and cyanobacteria use carbon ...
Oxygen likely oxidized atmospheric methane (a strong greenhouse gas) to carbon dioxide (a weaker one) and water. This weakened the greenhouse effect of the Earth's atmosphere, causing planetary cooling, which has been proposed to have triggered a series of ice ages known as the Huronian glaciation , bracketing an age range of 2.45–2.22 Ga ...
Atmospheric chemistry is a branch of atmospheric science that studies the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere and that of other planets. This multidisciplinary approach of research draws on environmental chemistry, physics, meteorology, computer modeling, oceanography, geology and volcanology, climatology and other disciplines to understand both natural and human-induced changes in atmospheric ...