Atmospheric Composition and Climate
1. What are the major solid constituents in the atmosphere?
(a) What determines how long they stay in the atmosphere? What are typical lifetimes?
(b) How big are typical aerosol particles?
(c) What are their impacts on weather?
(d) What effects does human activity have on their concentrations?
2. What are the major liquid constituents in the atmosphere?
(a) What determines how long they stay in the atmosphere? What are typical lifetimes?
(b) How large are typical cloud droplets?
(c) What effects does human activity have on the concentrations of liquid particles in the atmosphere?
3. What is an ideal gas?
4. What are the major gases in the atmosphere by concentration?
(a) Are these the most important for weather and climate?
(b) What determines how long gases stay in the atmosphere? What is the typical lifetime of a water vapor molecule in the atmosphere? Of a carbon dioxide molecule?
(c) Does human activity influence the concentration of all the gases? Which ones?
5. How does the vertical structure of the lower atmosphere change over the course of a day in general? How does this affect the concentration of any material emitted from the near surface layer?