1. The Atmosphere

2. Consisted Primarily of This was a reducing environment
Ancient Atmosphere
Consisted Primarily of
Methane
Ammonia
Water vapor
Hydrogen
This was a reducing environment
– no oxygen

3. Changing Conditions – 3.5 bya
Complex molecules form – amino acids, proteins
Photosynthesis begins – oxygen is produced

4. Driving forces behind changes Ultraviolet radiation
Lightning
Radioactive decay

5. Atmosphere – A thin layer

6. Atmospheric Composition

7. Water Vapor
Amount of water vapor is highly variable in space and time.
Importance to climate – water vapor transfers heat from warmer to colder regions.
Latent heat – heat released or absorbed when matter changes state.

8. Latent Heat

9. Layers of the Atmosphere Mount Everest Ionosphere Auroras Meteors
Ozonosphere

10. Troposphere Lowest layer – 0 to 15 km
Contains 80% of the mass of the atmosphere.
Layer where weather occurs.
Temperature decreases with height.

11. Layers of the
Atmosphere

12. Stratosphere Occurs between 15 and 50 km above the surface.
Contains 18% of the mass of the atmosphere.
Temperature increases with height.
Contains ozone (O3) that shields the surface from ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

13. Protection from
solar radiation

14. The
Greenhouse
Effect

15. Effect of Carbon Dioxide

17. Mr. D’Aleo is a Certified Consultant Meteorologist and was elected a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society

19. IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

20. Cycles of Global Warming

21. Evaporation will increase as the climate warms, which will increase average global precipitation. Soil moisture is likely to decline in many regions, and intense rainstorms are likely to become more frequent. Sea level is likely to rise two feet along most of the U.S. coast.

22. Image based on data from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

29. What drives atmospheric circulation?

30. Uneven Planet Warming

31. Arid and Semiarid Climates

32. Global
Atmospheric
Circulation

33. Coriolis Effect

35. Acid Rain

36. Acid Rain (4.3)
Normal Rain (5.2)

37. SOx and NOx sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides NO NO2 HNO3 nitric acid
SO H2SO4 sulfuric acid