Atmospheric chemistry is a scientific discipline that deals with the chemical constituents in our air. The problems addressed, often at a very highly theoretical level, include understanding and predicting stratospheric ozone levels, which are now known to be strongly influenced by chemicals injected into the atmosphere by humans. Closer to the ground, unraveling the problem of regional smog has remained a major challenge. The fate of many chemicals released into the atmosphere and their interactions with ecosystems is under close study. The emissions of natural pollutants from trees, soil micro-organism, and geological processes is vital to understanding global chemical balances. There are now more than 10 million manufactured chemicals that have been identified. Many of them are released into the atmosphere with as yet unknown consequences.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 11:56 am and is filed under General, Technology, Science, Environment, Climate Change. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.