Understanding our changing atmosphere

By William Bloss2007-07-01T00:00:00

Source: Ablestock.com

Research by chemists into the chemical processes occurring in the troposphere could help to predict the likely impacts of climate change upon atmospheric conditions

While the bulk of our atmosphere is made up of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapour, atmospheric chemistry is dominated by reactions of trace constituents, specifically gas phase radicals (species with unpaired electrons), present in parts per million (ppm), billion (ppb) or even trillion (1 part in 10¹²). Through chain reaction cycles, these highly reactive compounds control the levels of the more abundant species in the atmosphere.

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