Atmospheric Layers & Gases
This gas is the most abundant gas in the Earth's atmosphere.
What is nitrogen?
Stratospheric ozone protects life on Earth by absorbing these two specific types of solar ultraviolet radiation.
What is UV-B and UV-C radiation?
Air pollutants created when primary pollutants undergo chemical reactions in the atmosphere are designated by this term.
What is a secondary pollutant?
Natural gas extraction, livestock agriculture, and anaerobic permafrost decomposition are major sources of this greenhouse gas.
What is methane (CH4)?
Endocrine disruptors cause physiological harm to animals primarily through this cellular mechanism.
What is binding to cellular receptors to block or amplify hormone effects?
All weather changes on Earth take place within this atmospheric layer.
What is the troposphere?
These human-made chemicals are the primary anthropogenic cause of stratospheric ozone breakdown.
What are chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)?
This pollutant prevents oxygen transport in human blood by binding strongly to hemoglobin.
What is carbon monoxide (CO)?
Although it functions as a greenhouse gas, its atmospheric level is governed by ambient temperature rather than driving long-term climate change.
What is water vapor (H2O)?
This agricultural chemical acts as an endocrine disruptor that causes feminization in male frogs.
What is atrazine?
This atmospheric layer contains almost all of Earth's protective ozone (O3).
What is the stratosphere?
When UV light interacts with a CFC molecule, it splits off this highly electronegative atom that breaks down ozone molecules.
What is chlorine?
Particulate matter poses the greatest threat to human health when the particles fall into these two size ranges.
What are fine (<10 micrometers) and ultrafine (<2.5 micrometers) particles?
Global Warming Potential (GWP) rates a gas's heat-trapping capacity relative to this baseline greenhouse gas, which carries a GWP of 1.
What is carbon dioxide (CO2)?
Exposure to this heavy metal causes neurological damage and learning disabilities in humans.
What is lead (Pb)?
This property of Earth's surface determines whether incoming solar radiation is absorbed or reflected.
What is albedo?
Spring ozone depletion in Antarctica occurs naturally due to the seasonal formation of these high-altitude clouds.
What are polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs)?
These trees serve as a common natural biological source of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
What are pine trees?
A chemical's overall Global Warming Potential is determined by these two key characteristics.
What are atmospheric residence time and infrared absorption capacity?
Groundwater supplies can naturally become contaminated with this heavy metal that disrupts the human glucocorticoid system.
What is arsenic?
This brownish gas is a key precursor component found in photochemical smog.
What is nitrogen dioxide (NO2)?
Designed as replacements for CFCs to spare the ozone layer, these compounds have the primary drawback of acting as potent greenhouse gases.
What are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)?
Ships hunting for underwater oil reserves emit heavy air blasts that disrupt whale migration and communication through this practice.
What is seismic surveying?
This atmospheric phenomenon occurs when greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation emitted by Earth and re-radiate it toward the surface.
What is the greenhouse effect?
Agricultural pesticide runoff carried across broad landscapes by wind and water is categorized as this type of pollution source.
What is a nonpoint source?