Environmental Science

Troposhere: The layer of Earth’s atmosphere from the surface to about 10 miles in altitude.
Tropopause: the boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere aboce. Well mixed and is the site and source of our weather. Primary recipient of air pollutants.
Stratosphere: The layer of Earth’s atmosphere between 10 miles and 40 miles above the surface that contains the ozone shield. Mixes only slowly; pollutants that enter it remain for long periods of time.
Weather: The day-to-day variations in temperature, air-pressure, wind, humidity, and precipitation meditated by the atmosphere in a given region.
Climate: the result of long-term weather patterns in a region.
Meteorology – the scientific study of the atmosphere
Convection Currents – (vertical movement of air due to atmospheric heating and cooling) bring us day-to-day changes in our weather as they move in a general pattern from west to east.
Jet Streams – veritable rivers of air, generated by earth’s rotation and air-pressure gradients
Fronts – regions of rapid weather change
Monsoons – The seasonal airflow created by major differences in cooling and heating between oceans and continents, usually bringing extensive rain.
Proxies – measureable records that can provide data on factors such as temperature, ice cover, and precipitation.
Isotopes – A form of an element in which the atoms have more (or less) than the usual number of neutrons. Isotopes of a given element have identical chemical properties, but differ in mass (weight) as a result of the superfluity (or deficiency) of neutrons. Many isotopes are unstable and radioactive.
Milankovitch Cycles – A cycle of major oscillations in the Earth’s orbit, taking place over frequencies of thousands of years and known to influence the distribution of solar radiation and therefore global weather patterns.
Conveyer – The giant pattern of oceanic currents that moves water masses from the surface to the depths and back again, producing major effects on the climate.
Radiative Forcing – the influence a particular factor has on the energy balance of the atmosphere-ocean-land system.
Greenhouses Gases (GHGs) – Gases in the atmosphere that absorb infrared energy and contribute to the air temperature. These gases are like a heat blanker and are important in insulating Earth’s surface. Carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluoro-carbons, and other halocarbons.
Planetary Albedo – the reflection of solar radiation back into space due to cloud cover, contributing to cooling of the atmosphere
Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) – Assessment of the serious impacts of global warming on the Arctic region, published in 2004.
Mitigation –
Precautionary Principle – The principle that says that where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, the absence of scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measure to prevent environmental degradation.
Polluter Pays Principle – Polluters should pay for the damage their pollution causes.
Equity Principle -