1. What are 4 functions of the atmosphere, besides providing gases for photosynthesis and respiration?

2. What are the two lower layers of the atmosphere?  What are their important characteristics?

3. Warm air tends to ____________, unless stopped by an ________________ layer.

4. What is a thermal inversion layer, and what geographic factor increases the probability that it will occur?    What is the effect of a thermal inversion on pollution levels?

5. What are some of the natural sources of air pollution?

6. What is the difference between primary and secondary pollutants? Know examples.

7. What are the 6 criteria pollutants tracked by the EPA?

     For all six, know the major health or ecological effects and major sources.

     Which two pollutants are serious problems in the Central Valley?

8. Has the Clean Air Act had much effect on outdoor or ambient air pollution?

9.  What does VOC stand for? Where do they come from or what are their uses?

10. What is industrial smog? What pollutants contribute to it?  In what climate is it most common?

11. What is photochemical smog? What pollutants contribute to it? In what climate is it most common?  What are the health and environmental effects? 

12. Why is stratospheric ozone depletion a problem?  Where is it most severe?

13. What are CFCs?  What are the sources or uses of CFCs? What are some of the other halocarbons that are ozone destroyers?

14. When did scientists first notice ozone levels were dropping? When were CFCs identified as a cause?   What year did the Montreal Protocols finally address the problem?

15. What is the current status of the ozone depletion problem?

16. What are the two major primary pollutants that cause acid deposition? What are their major sources?

17. What is the pH of normal precipitation? Of acid precipitation? What are the environmental impacts of acid deposition?

18. What regions of the US are most vulnerable?

19. One of the pollutants, _________________, is decreasing, but the other, ____________, is not, delaying ecosystem recovery.

20. What is a greenhouse gas?  What 4 greenhouse gases are increasing due to human activities?

21. How has the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO₂) changed in the last 200 years?

( from ____ ppm to ____ ppm) What are the major sources of the increase?

22. What are the anthropogenic sources of methane?  How much has it increased since 1750?  (CH₄)

23. What are the anthropogenic sources of nitrous oxide?  (N₂0)

24. Soot or black carbon aerosols _______________ warming, while ________________ aerosols tend to have a cooling effect.

25. How are ice cores used to determine the relationship between past CO2 levels and temperatures?

 26. How does the current warming trend compare to the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age periods, which were presumably due to natural variation in climate?

27. What are the physical indicators of climate change?

28. What are the biological indicators of climate change?

29. What 2 sectors of the economy account for most of the increase in greenhouse gases?

30. In addition to rising global temperatures, what are some of the expected IMPACTS of climate change?

31. What are some of the recommendations or actions we could take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

32. The Kyoto Treaty is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions to what level?  

Ultimately, how low do NET Greenhouse gas emissions have to go in order to have a stable climate?