Abstract
Atmospheric chemistry plays an important role in driving climate and its variability at all space and time scales. The chemical composition of the atmosphere has evolved since the formation of the planet 4.5 billion years ago, and is currently changing at an accelerated rate, primarily as a result of human activities. This paper presents a description of the most important chemical processes occurring in the troposphere and in the stratosphere, and discusses potential climatic impacts of changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere. Interdisciplinary research will be needed to address the most crucial issues, because of the strong coupling between the atmosphere, the biosphere, the hydrosphere, the chemosphere and the technosphere.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
It is impossible in this brief article to mention all important publications dealing with atmospheric chemistry and its importance for climate research. Numerous references can be found in the WMO Report No. 16 entitled Atmospheric Ozone 1985, Geneva, Switzerland. Other references will be found in the books by G. Brasseur and S. Solomon, entitled Aeronomy of the Middle Atmosphere (Reidel Publishing Co., Second Edition, 1986),
R. P. Wayne entitled Chemistry of Atmospheres (Claredon Press, 1985)
J. S. Levine (Ed.) entitled The Photochemistry of Atmospheres (Academic Press, 1985)
P. Warneck entitled Chemistry of the Natural Atmosphere (Academic Press, 1988).
Bacastow, R. B. and C. D. Keeling (1981) ‘Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentration and the Observed Airborne Fraction’, in Carbon Cycle Modelling, SCOPE 16, Ed. by B. Bolin, John Wiley, Chichester, 390 pp.
Barnola, J. M., D. Raynaud, Y. S. Korotkevich, and C. Lorius (1987) ‘Vostok Ice Core Provides 160,000-year record of Atmospheric CO2’, Nature, 329, 408–414.
Bates, D. and M. Nicolet (1950) ‘The Photochemistry of Water Vapor’, Journal of Geophysical Research, 55, 301–327.
Blake, D. R. and F. S. Rowland (1988) ‘Continuing Worldwide Increase in Tropospheric Methane, 1978 to 1987’, Science, 239, 1129–1131.
Brasseur, G., M. H. Hitchman, P. C. Simon and A. De Rudder (1988) ‘Ozone Reduction in the 1980’s: A Model Simulation of Anthropogenic and Solar Perturbation’, Geophysical Research Letter, 12, 1361–1364.
Brasseur, G., M. H. Hitchman, M. Dymek, M. Pirre and E. Falise (1989) ‘An Interactive Chemical, Dynamical, Radiative Two-dimensional Model of the Middle Atmosphere’, in preparation.
Crutzen, P. J. (1970) ‘The Influence of Nitrogen Oxides on the Atmospheric Ozone Content’, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 96, 320–325.
Crutzen, P. J. (1974) ‘Photochemical Reactions Initiated by and Influencing Ozone in Unpolluted Tropospheric Air’, Tellus, 26, 47–57.
Crutzen, P. J. (1988) ‘Tropospheric Ozone: An Overview’, in Tropospheric Ozone, Ed. by I. S. A. Isaksen, Reidel Publishing Co., 3–32.
Ehhalt, D. H. (1986) ‘Atmospheric Trace Gases: Interactions with the Biosphere’, in Climate-Vegetation Interactions, Ed. by C. Rosenzweig and R. Dickinson, UCAR, Office for Interdisciplinary Earth Studies, Report OIES-2.
Farman, J. C., B. G. Gardiner and J. D. Shanklin (1985) ‘Large Losses of Total Ozone in Antarctica Reveal Seasonal ClOx/NOxInteraction’, Nature, 315, 207–210.
Jones, P. D., T. M. L. Wigley, and P. B. Wright (1986) ‘Global Temperature variations Between 1861 and 1984’, Nature, 322, 430–434.
Komhyr, W. D., R. H. Gammon, T. B. Harris, L. S. Waterman, T. J. Conway, W. R. Taylor, and K. W. Thoning (1985) ‘Global Atmospheric CO2 Distribution and Variations from 1968–1982 NOAA/GMCC CO2 Flask Sampling Data’, Journal of Geophysical Research, 90, 5567–5596.
Margulis, L. (1982) Early Life, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 160 pp.
Molina, M. J. and F. S. Rowland (1974) ‘Stratospheric Sink for Chlorofluoromethanes: Chlorine Atom Catalyzed Destruction of Ozone’, Nature, 249, 810–814.
Molina, M. J., T. L. Tso, L. T. Molina and F. C.-Y. Wang (1987) ‘Antarctic Stratospheric Chemistry and Chlorine Nitrate, Hydrogen Chloride: Release of Active Chlorine in the Antarctic Stratosphere’, Science, 238, 1253–1257.
NAPAP (National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program) (1984) Annual Report to the President and Congress 1984, Director of Research, 726 Jackson Place, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20503, USA.
Pearman, G. I. (1988) ‘Greenhouse gases: Evidence for atmospheric changes and anthropogenic causes’, in Greenhouse, Planning for Climate Change, Ed. by G. I. Pearman, E. J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands, 752 pp.
Pearman, G. I., D. M. Atheridge, F. de Silva, and P. J. Fraser (1986) ‘Evidence of Changing Concentrations of Atmospheric CO2, N2O, and CH4 from Air Bubbles in Antarctic Ice’, Nature, 320, 248–250.
Stolarski, R. S. and R. J. Cicerone (1974) ‘Stratospheric Chlorine: A Possible Sink for Ozone’, Canadian Journal of Chemistry, 52, 1610–1615.
Stolarski, R. S., A. J. Krueger, M. R. Schoeberl, R. D. McPeeters, P. A. Newman and J. C. Alpert (1986) ‘Nimbus 7 Satellite Measurements of the Springtime Antarctic Ozone Decrease’, Nature, 322, 808–811.
Walker, J. C. (1977) Evolution of the Atmosphere, Macmillan Publishing Co., New York, 318 pp.
Wofsy, S. C., M. J. Molina, R. J. Salawitch, L. E. Fox and M. B. McElroy (1988) ‘Interactions Between HCl, NOx and H2O Ice in the Antarctic Stratosphere: Implications for Ozone’, Journal of Geophysical Research, 93, 2442–2450.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Brasseur, G., Verstraete, M.M. (1989). Atmospheric Chemistry-Climate Interactions. In: Berger, A., Schneider, S., Duplessy, J.C. (eds) Climate and Geo-Sciences. NATO ASI Series, vol 285. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2446-8_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2446-8_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-0412-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2446-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive