Young Meteorologist #18
January 3, 2014
Acid rain-
precipitation, as rain, snow, or sleet, containing relatively high concentrations of acid-forming chemicals, as the pollutants from coal smoke, chemical manufacturing, and smelting, that have been released into the atmosphere and combined with water vapor: harmful to the environment.
Atmosphere-
1. the gaseous envelope surrounding the earth; the air.
2. this medium at a given place.
3. Astronomy . the gaseous envelope surrounding a heavenly body.
4. Chemistry . any gaseous envelope or medium.
5. a conventional unit of pressure, the normal pressure of the air at sea level, about 14.7 pounds per square inch (101.3 kilopascals), equal to the pressure exerted by a column of mercury 29.92 inches (760 mm) high. Abbreviation: atm.
Greenhouse effect-
1. an atmospheric heating phenomenon, caused by short-wave solar radiation being readily transmitted inward through the earth's atmosphere but longer-wavelength heat radiation less readily transmitted outward, owing to its absorption by atmospheric carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, and other gases; thus, the rising level of carbon dioxide is viewed with concern.
2. such a phenomenon on another planet.
Ozone-
a form of oxygen, O 3 , with a peculiar odor suggesting that of weak chlorine, produced when an electric spark or ultraviolet light is passed through air or oxygen. It is found in the atmosphere in minute quantities, especially after a thunderstorm, is a powerful oxidizing agent, and is thus biologically corrosive. In the upper atmosphere, it absorbs ultraviolet rays, thereby preventing them from reaching the surface of the earth. It is used for bleaching, sterilizing water, etc.
Ozone layer-
Meteorology . the layer of the upper atmosphere where most atmospheric ozone is concentrated, from about 8 to 30 miles (12 to 48 km) above the earth, with the maximum ozone concentration occurring at an altitude of about 12 miles (19 km).
Smog-
1. smoke or other atmospheric pollutants combined with fog in an unhealthy or irritating mixture.
2. photochemical smog
Ultraviolet radiation-
Radiation in the part of the electromagnetic spectrum where wavelengths are just shorter than those of ordinary, visible violet light but longer than those of x-rays.
