Atmospheric Chemistry

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This work outlines atmospheric chemistry as it relates to environmental chemistry as a whole. Chapter 1, “Environmental Chemistry and the Five Spheres of the Environment,” is an overview of environmental chemistry and serves as a reference for the remainder of the book with respect to the close relationship of the atmosphere with each of the other spheres of the environment. The chapter also defines the Earth System and its crucial natural capital, especially that in the atmosphere. Chapter 2, “The Atmosphere and Atmospheric Chemistry,” explains the nature of the atmosphere largely on a physical basis including the composition and structure of the atmosphere including the layers of the atmosphere, especially the troposphere and the stratosphere. The chapter also introduces photochemistry, which is involved with most of the important chemical processes in the atmosphere. The nature and effects of particulate matter in the atmosphere are covered in Chapter 3, “Particles in the Atmosphere.” The physical behavior of atmospheric particles as well as their role in atmospheric chemistry are discussed. The Asian brown cloud, a widespread pollution problem involving particles in the atmosphere is described. Chapter 4, “Gaseous Inorganic Air Pollutants,” deals primarily with oxides of nitrogen and sulfur as well as carbon monoxide in the atmosphere, their formation, effects, and control. Also included are discussions of non-oxide gaseous air pollutants such as hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and inorganic halogen gases. Chapter 5, “Organic Air Pollutants,” treats organic compounds in the atmosphere by classes of compounds of which there are several consisting of hundreds of different compounds. The chapter treats chemical processes that organic compounds in the atmosphere undergo, especially reactions with hydroxyl radical and photochemical reactions. Chapter 6, “Photochemical Smog,” describes the pollution phenomenon that afflicts many urban areas around the world in which stagnant air masses containing nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons develop a noxious mixture of oxidants, aldehyde’s, and particles when subjected to intense sunlight. Chapter 7, “The Endangered Global Atmosphere,” addresses the ways in which human activities have the potential to seriously damage or even destroy the Earth System as humans have known it, most prominently by the emission of greenhouse gases that cause global warming. The chapter also discusses ways of preventing damage to the atmosphere and ways of dealing with damage to the atmosphere, particularly atmospheric warming.