Question

1. One idea being discussed to combat global warming is to deliberately inject aerosols into the atmosphere. This would create an artificial version of the cooling that results from the eruption of large volcanoes, like Mt. Pinatubo in 1991. Briefly (3-5 sentences) explain how injection of aerosols into the atmosphere can cause cooling.

2. T/f?

a. The atmosphere is at chemical equilibrium.

b. The temperature profile in the stratosphere follows the profile expected from adiabatic expansion.

c. The tropopause is a zone of vigorous mixing.

d. The third most abundant gas in the atmosphere is Ar.

Answer 1

1. Aerosols are the several particles that are suspended in the atmosphere. The aerosols significantly affect the earth atmosphere. The majority of aerosol layer is formed by sulfur dioxide gas that is converted to droplets of sulfuric acid in the stratosphere and over the week to several months after the eruption of volcano. Wind present in the stratosphere spread the aerosol over the globe. They reflect sunlight and thus reducing the amount of energy reaching the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface resulting in cooling of atmosphere

2. a. True. The atmosphere is at chemical equilibrium with the help of various geochemical cycles.

b. False. in the stratosphere the pressure falls off exponentially with increasing height and does not follo the adiabatic expansion.

c. True. this is because of vigorous convective air currents within the tropopause layer.

d. True. Argon is the third most abundant gas in the atmosphere.