CHED 1467 |
| The composition of the atmosphere is a key part of the energy balance of our planet. Levels of gases that are largely transparent to solar radiation but strongly absorb the Earth's radiation, the greenhouse gases, vary naturally over time as the cycling of carbon and nutrients through the oceans, biosphere, and atmosphere change. The link between levels of greenhouse gases and climate in the past is very strong. Over the past 650 thousand years, a time when we have direct observations of the atmosphere via ice cores, the correlation between levels of carbon dioxide and climate is particularly striking. This paper will first discuss the processes that control the atmospheric composition, then present evidence of past relationships between atmospheric composition and climate, show the anthropogenic influences in the context of natural variability, and explore future scenarios for climate and atmospheric composition as human impacts on the atmosphere, and climate, accelerate. |
|
Chemical Evolution from Origins of Life to Modern Society
8:30 AM-11:55 AM, Tuesday, April 8, 2008 Hilton New Orleans Riverside -- Jasperwood, Oral
Division of Chemical Education |