2) What was the pre-industrial concentration in ppm (based on the figure at the

Question

2) What was the pre-industrial concentration in ppm (based on the figure at the top of the quiz)? Round to nearest whole number.


3) If all of the carbon emitted so far due to fossil fuel usage had remained in the atmosphere, what would the total current CO2atmospheric concentration be in PgC? Assume that land and ocean carbon fluxes remain at their pre-industrial values.

Atmosphere 589 + 240 ±10 (average atmospheric increase:4 PgClyr) Net land flux 1 Net ocean flux 1.7 2.3 ±0.7 IU Rock weathering 0.1 Export from soils to rivers 1.7 Surface ocean 50 Marine 37 3 Rivers 0.9 Burial 901 1101 0.2 11 Intermediate & deep sea 37,100 Dissolved organic carbon 700 350-550 -30 ±45 soils 1500-2400 +155±30 Fossil fuel reserves Gas: 383-1135 Oil: 173-264 Permafrost 1700 Ocean floor surface sediments 1,750 Coal:446-541 365 ±30 Units Fluxes: PgClyr Stocks: PgC

Explanation / Answer

ANSWER:

An atmosphere (from Greek (atmos), meaning 'vapor', and (sphaira), meaning 'sphere'[1][2]) is a layer of gases surrounding a planet or other material body, that is held in place by the gravity of that body. An atmosphere is more likely to be retained if the gravity it is subject to is high and the temperature of the atmosphere is low.

The atmosphere of Earth is composed of nitrogen (about 78%), oxygen (about 21%), argon (about 0.9%) with carbon dioxide and other gases in trace amounts. Oxygen is used by most organisms for respiration; nitrogen is fixed by bacteria and lightning to produce ammoniaused in the construction of nucleotides and amino acids; and carbon dioxide is used by plants, algae and cyanobacteria for photosynthesis. The atmosphere helps protect living organisms from genetic damage by solar ultraviolet radiation, solar wind and cosmic rays. The current composition of the Earth's atmosphere is the product of billions of years of biochemical modification of the paleoatmosphere by living organisms.

The term stellar atmosphere describes the outer region of a star and typically includes the portion above the opaque photosphere. Stars with sufficiently low temperatures may have outer atmospheres with compound molecules.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse 2
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.