Unit 2 The Chemistry of the Atmosphere

UNIT LEARNING OUTCOMES

TLO 7: Apply chemistry to the environment for calculations and design appropriate for
water and air.

ENGAGE
The atmosphere on Earth is extremely complex, and there are millions of reactions taking
place all the time, so there is quite a lot to learn in this section! But thankfully it’s not too
complex.

The early atmosphere was mainly formed of carbon dioxide, with small amounts of water
vapour, methane and ammonia (and possible nitrogen), and little to no oxygen. This is
similar to the atmospheres of Mars and Venus. It is thought that volcanoes released carbon
dioxide, water vapour and nitrogen gas into the early atmosphere. The water vapour then
condenses to form the ocean. The early atmosphere eventually stabilised and was made
up mainly of carbon dioxide. As icy comets hit the Earth from space, they may also have
added to our water supplies. Many thousands of tonnes of water fall onto Earth from space
every year, even today.

Around 3.4 billion years ago, organisms similar to bacteria evolved which could break
down chemicals around them to provide energy. Later on, bacteria, algae and plants
evolved which could harness the energy of the sun by carrying out a chemical reaction
called photosynthesis. The earliest living organism evolved to survive in conditions of little or
no oxygen, so the oxygen produced by photosynthesis was toxic to them.

Approximately 200 million years ago, the atmosphere stabilised and has remained much
the same ever since. As well as oxygen, the atmosphere contains approximately 78%
nitrogen and small amounts of other gases such as argon (0.9%) and carbon dioxide
(0.04%). The early atmosphere had little to no oxygen. The evolution of plants, algae and
bacteria that made their own energy using photosynthesis caused oxygen to be released;
this oxygen caused the atmosphere to become richer and richer in oxygen.
Lots of amino acids, also known as the building blocks of life, come together to make
proteins, which are found in all living things. Amino acids contain the elements hydrogen,
carbon, nitrogen and oxygen.

The early atmosphere contained a lot of carbon dioxide, but carbon dioxide makes up
only 0.04% of our modern atmosphere. Most carbon dioxide was stored in living organisms
or materials made up of living organisms. Carbon dioxide was taken up during
photosynthesis. Plants were then eaten by animals, so the carbon was transferred to animal
bone and tissue. As time passed, the dead bodies of these organisms built up at the
bottom of the ocean, where they formed calcium carbonate (limestone) rock. Dead
organisms which were crushed and heated by the Earth’s crust turned into fossil fuels, all of
which caused a reduction in carbon dioxide levels.

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 However, there is now evidence that the sea cannot cope with the additional carbon
dioxide we are producing from emissions. Coral reefs are dying due to acidic conditions.
As we burn fossil fuels, stored carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. The carbon
dioxide is absorbed by the ocean. Reactions within the sea make soluble
hydrogencarbonates and insoluble carbonates such as calcium carbonate. Excess
dissolved carbon dioxide decreases the pH of the ocean so that it is more acidic –
eventually this reaches a level which can kill important marine organisms.

EXPLORE

CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

The Earth’s atmosphere is dynamic and forever changing. The causes of these changes
are sometimes man-made and sometimes part of many natural cycles. Scientists use very
complex software to predict weather and climate change as there are many variables
that can influence this. The problems caused by increased levels of air pollutants require
scientists and engineers to develop solutions that help to reduce the impact of human
activity

The Composition of Earth’s Atmosphere

For 200 million years, the proportions of different gases in the atmosphere have been much
the same as they are today:
 about four-fifths (approximately 80%) nitrogen
 about one-fifth (approximately 20%) oxygen
 small proportions of various other gases, including carbon dioxide, water vapour
and noble gases.

Earth’s Atmospheric Layers

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 Troposphere
The troposphere starts at the Earth's surface and extends 8 to 14.5 kilometers high (5 to 9
miles). This part of the atmosphere is the most dense. Almost all weather is in this region.

Stratosphere
The stratosphere starts just above the troposphere and extends to 50 kilometers (31 miles)
high. The ozone layer, which absorbs and scatters the solar ultraviolet radiation, is in this
layer.

Mesosphere
The mesosphere starts just above the stratosphere and extends to 85 kilometers (53 miles)
high. Meteors burn up in this layer

Thermosphere
The thermosphere starts just above the mesosphere and extends to 600 kilometers (372
miles) high. Aurora and satellites occur in this layer.

Ionosphere
The ionosphere is an abundant layer of electrons and ionized atoms and molecules that
stretches from about 48 kilometers (30 miles) above the surface to the edge of space at
about 965 km (600 mi), overlapping into the mesosphere and thermosphere. This dynamic
region grows and shrinks based on solar conditions and divides further into the sub-regions:
D, E and F; based on what wavelength of solar radiation is absorbed. The ionosphere is a
critical link in the chain of Sun-Earth interactions. This region is what makes radio
communications possible.

Exosphere
This is the upper limit of our atmosphere. It extends from the top of the thermosphere up to
10,000 km (6,200 mi).

Ozone Layer
The ozone layer is one layer of the stratosphere, the second layer of the Earth’s
atmosphere. The stratosphere is the mass of protective gases clinging to our planet.

Ozone is only a trace gas in the atmosphere—only about 3 molecules for every 10 million
molecules of air. But it does a very important job. Like a sponge, the ozone layer absorbs
bits of radiation hitting Earth from the sun. Even though we need some of the sun's radiation
to live, too much of it can damage living things. The ozone layer acts as a shield for life on
Earth.

Ozone is good at trapping a type of radiation called ultraviolet radiation, or UV light, which
can penetrate organisms’ protective layers, like skin, damaging DNA molecules in plants
and animals. There are two major types of UV light: UVB and UVA.

UVB is the cause of skin conditions like sunburns, and cancers like basal cell carcinoma and
squamous cell carcinoma.

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 People used to think that UVA light, the radiation used in tanning beds, is harmless because
it doesn’t cause burns. However, scientists now know that UVA light is even more harmful
than UVB, penetrating more deeply and causing a deadly skin cancer, melanoma, and
premature aging. The ozone layer, our Earth’s sunscreen, absorbs about 98 percent of this
devastating UV light.

The ozone layer is getting thinner. Chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are a
reason we have a thinning ozone layer. A chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) is a molecule that
contains the elements carbon, chlorine, and fluorine. CFCs are everywhere, mostly in
refrigerants and plastic products. Businesses and consumers use them because they're
inexpensive, they don't catch fire easily, and they don't usually poison living things. But the
CFCs start eating away at the ozone layer once they get blown into the stratosphere.

Ozone molecules, which are simply made of three joined oxygen atoms, are always being
destroyed and reformed naturally. But CFCs in the air make it very difficult for ozone to
reform once it’s broken apart. The ozone layer, which only makes up 0.00006 percent of
Earth’s atmosphere, is getting thinner and thinner all the time.

―Ozone holes‖ are popular names for areas of damage to the ozone layer. This is
inaccurate. Ozone layer damage is more like a really thin patch than a hole. The ozone
layer is thinnest near the poles.

In the 1970s, people all over the world started realizing that the ozone layer was getting
thinner and that this was a bad thing. Many governments and businesses agreed that
some chemicals, like aerosol cans, should be outlawed. There are fewer aerosol cans
produced today. The ozone layer has slowly recovered as people, businesses, and
governments work to control such pollution.

Greenhouse Effect

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 The greenhouse effect is a natural process that warms the Earth’s surface. When the Sun’s
energy reaches the Earth’s atmosphere, some of it is reflected back to space and the rest
is absorbed and re-radiated by greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse gases include water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone
and some artificial chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

The absorbed energy warms the atmosphere and the surface of the Earth. This process
maintains the Earth’s temperature at around 33 degrees Celsius warmer than it would
otherwise be, allowing life on Earth to exist.

Enhanced greenhouse effect

The problem we now face is that human activities – particularly burning fossil fuels (coal, oil
and natural gas), agriculture and land clearing – are increasing the concentrations of
greenhouse gases. This is the enhanced greenhouse effect, which is contributing to
warming of the Earth.

Global Warming
The globe is heating up. Both land and oceans are warmer now than they were when
record keeping began, in 1880, and temperatures are still ticking upward. This rise in heat is
global warming, in a nutshell.

Here are the bare numbers, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA): Between 1880 and 1980, the global annual temperature increased
at a rate of 0.13 degrees Fahrenheit (0.07 degrees Celsius) per decade, on average. Since
1981, the rate of increase has sped up, to 0.32 degrees F (0.18 degrees C) per decade. This
has led to an overall 3.6 degrees F (2 degrees C) increase in global average temperature
today compared to the preindustrial era. In 2019, the average global temperature over
land and ocean was 1.75 degrees F (0.95 degrees C) above the 20th-century average.
That made 2019 the second hottest year on record, trailing only 2016.

This rise in heat is caused by humans. The burning of fossil fuels has released greenhouse
gases into the atmosphere, which trap warmth from the sun and drive up surface and air
temperatures.

Global warming occurs when carbon dioxide (CO 2) and other air pollutants and
greenhouse gases collect in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that
have bounced off the earth’s surface. Normally, this radiation would escape into space—
but these pollutants, which can last for years to centuries in the atmosphere, trap the heat
and cause the planet to get hotter. That's what's known as the greenhouse effect.

Scientists agree that the earth’s rising temperatures are fueling longer and hotter heat
waves, more frequent droughts, heavier rainfall, and more powerful hurricanes. In 2015, for
example, scientists said that an ongoing drought in California—the state’s worst water
shortage in 1,200 years—had been intensified by 15 percent to 20 percent by global
warming. They also said the odds of similar droughts happening in the future had roughly
doubled over the past century. And in 2016, the National Academies of Science,

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 Engineering, and Medicine announced that it’s now possible to confidently attribute
certain weather events, like some heat waves, directly to climate change.

The earth’s ocean temperatures are getting warmer, too—which means that tropical
storms can pick up more energy. So global warming could turn, say, a category 3 storm
into a more dangerous category 4 storm. In fact, scientists have found that the frequency
of North Atlantic hurricanes has increased since the early 1980s, as well as the number of
storms that reach categories 4 and 5. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina—the costliest hurricane in
U.S. history—struck New Orleans; the second-costliest, Hurricane Sandy, hit the East Coast in
2012.

The impacts of global warming are being felt across the globe. Extreme heat waves have
caused tens of thousands of deaths around the world in recent years. And in an alarming
sign of events to come, Antarctica has been losing about 134 billion metric tons of ice per
year since 2002. This rate could speed up if we keep burning fossil fuels at our current pace,
some experts say, causing sea levels to rise several meters over the next 50 to 150 years.

Climate Change
Climate Change is the defining issue of our time and we are at a defining moment. From
shifting weather patterns that threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase
the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and
unprecedented in scale. Without drastic action today, adapting to these impacts in the
future will be more difficult and costly.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up by the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment to provide an
objective source of scientific information. In 2013 the IPCC provided more clarity about the
role of human activities in climate change when it released its Fifth Assessment Report. It is
categorical in its conclusion: climate change is real and human activities are the main
cause.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

The UN family is at the forefront of the effort to save our planet. In 1992, its ―Earth Summit‖
produced the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a
first step in addressing the climate change problem. Today, it has near-universal
membership. The 197 countries that have ratified the Convention are Parties to the
Convention. The ultimate aim of the Convention is to prevent ―dangerous‖ human
interference with the climate system.

Kyoto Protocol
By 1995, countries launched negotiations to strengthen the global response to climate
change, and, two years later, adopted the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol legally binds
developed country Parties to emission reduction targets. The Protocol’s first commitment
period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. The second commitment period began on 1
January 2013 and will end in 2020. There are now 197 Parties to the Convention and 192
Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.

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 Paris Agreement
At the 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris in 2015, Parties to the UNFCCC reached a
landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the
actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future. The Paris Agreement
builds upon the Convention and – for the first time – brings all nations into a common cause
to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with
enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course
in the global climate effort.

The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of
climate change by keeping the global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees
Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase
even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

On Earth Day, 22 April 2016, 175 world leaders signed the Paris Agreement at United
Nations Headquarters in New York. This was by far the largest number of countries ever to
sign an international agreement on a single day. There are now 186 countries that have
ratified the Paris Agreement.

2019 Climate Action Summit

On 23 September 2019, Secretary-General António Guterres convened a Climate Summit
to bring world leaders of governments, the private sector and civil society together to
support the multilateral process and to increase and accelerate climate action and
ambition. He named Luis Alfonso de Alba, a former Mexican diplomat, as his Special Envoy
to lead preparations. The Summit focused on key sectors where action can make the most
difference—heavy industry, nature-based solutions, cities, energy, resilience, and climate
finance. World leaders reported on what they are doing, and what more they intend to do
when they convene in 2020 for the UN climate conference, where commitments will be
renewed and may be increased. In closing the Climate Action Summit, the Secretary-
General said ―You have delivered a boost in momentum, cooperation and ambition. But
we have a long way to go.‖

―We need more concrete plans, more ambition from more countries and more businesses.
We need all financial institutions, public and private, to choose, once and for all, the green
economy.‖

EXPLAIN, ELABORATE, & EVALUATE

Activity 1: Caring for the Atmosphere

Self-Assessment No. 1

Research on different sustainable ways how we can help in the care for our atmosphere.
Discuss their most salient points and give your opinion on each. Finally, suggest your own
innovation on how we can help in care for our atmosphere.

To be submitted in Google classroom on:

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