Global wind patterns http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/wwhlpr/hurricane_globalwinds.rxml?hret=/indexlist.rxml

Hurricane Interior

Typical content of the atmosphere (ppm by volume near the surface) H2O variable (<20,000) Argon 9,300 CO2 375 Neon 16 Helium 5.2 Krypton 1 Xenon 0.08 Methane 1.0-1.2 NO 0.5 H2 0.5 NO2 0.02 O3 0.01-0.04 Sox 0.002

Atmospheric structure T up to 1500 K due to intense solar radiation Chemical composition changes to be richer in lighter gases, gravitational stratification almost no H2O or ozone T relatively constant, increasing to About 200K at the stratopause Average dT/dh = -6 K/km The region of weather! http://www.mardiros.net/atmosphere/atmosphere_structure.html

Common Pollutants Sometimes called TSP Total volume in the US is about 180Mton/yr: about 3.3lb/day.person Note: this is about HALF of what it was 40 years ago even though the population and economy have grown substantially

Typical Health effects: time and concentration matter

Smoke stacks, the first solution http://photovault.com/Link/Industry/IndustrySmokestacks.html

Aerosols http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Aerosols/

Temperature Inversion In extreme cases the temperature can actually increase with height. The inversion inhibits convection and as a result, pollutants can concentrate near the ground. http://www.weatherquestions.com/What_is_a_temperature_inversion.htm http://www.weatherquestions.com/What_is_a_temperature_inversion.htm

Temperature Inversion http://daphne.palomar.edu/calenvironment/smog.htm

Acid rain patterns in the US NOTE: neutral water is pH=7; the lower the number, the stronger the acid.

Schanghai Dec. 1993 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sha1993_smog_wkpd.jpg

Typical TRACE Impurities in Coal (does not include sulphur, which is not a trace impurity!) How much lead, mercury, and uranium is emitted per year in the US by power plants burning this stuff?

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/pages/sec1_3.pdf

Air pollution profile for typical cities

K&H fig 8.13

See also an IU article On coal and limestone: http://www.indiana.edu/~rcapub/v20n3/p9.html http://www.dukepower.com/environment/air/scrubber_diagram.pdf

Pollution control devices: Power plant

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/catalytic-converter.htm

Global warming: What is the controversy? http://www.junkscience.com/GMT/index.htm Interesting NPR story on recently rejected coal power plant in Kansas http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15546026

http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/EDDOCS/images/Erb/components2.gif

Carbon Cycle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_cycle

Spectrum of Solar radiation at the Earth’s surface H&K fig 6.2 Absorption bands due to gasses like CO2, H2O, CH4 etc. These are the so-called green-house gasses.

http://www.whrc.org/carbon/ (Woods Hole Research Center)

CO2 Concentrations and Temperature Change Note that total temperature change across several ice ages was only about 12oC or about 22oF. Through the study of ancient ice cores from Antarctica it is possible to compare atmospheric concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere with temperature variations over the past 400,000 years. A visual comparison indicates a very tight connection between their performance. But with the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, CO2 concentrations begin to rise from 280 ppmv (parts per million by volume) in the early 1800s to a current level of 376 ppmv, 77 ppmv above the highest concentrations previously attained.

Carbon Cycle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_cycle

Sediments and sedimentary Rocks could account for another 6x107 Petagrams! (www.physicalgeography.net/9r.html) http://www.whrc.org/carbon/ (Woods Hole Research Center)

Ozone in the atmosphere: good and bad 10 ppm ozone at ~ 50 km compared to 40 ppb ozone in the troposphere! http://www.mardiros.net/atmosphere/atmosphere_structure.html

Ozone levels at Halley Bay station (Antarctica) http://www.atm.ch.cam.ac.uk/tour/part2.html

TOMS Satellite movie (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) http://www.atm.ch.cam.ac.uk/tour/anim_toms.html

TOMS Satellite movie (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) http://www.atm.ch.cam.ac.uk/tour/part2.html