Science10 - Environmental Issues and Human Impact: Atmospheric Ecology

Acid rain basics

From the Australian Academy of Science this website is about local air pollution. Air pollution ranges in scale from cigarette smoke in a house to the photochemical smog that can cover a city. This website describes the main sources of pollution and provides related activities.

Australian Academy of Science web site explores the enhanced greenhouse effect and the role of human activity in the increase in greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.

OzCoasts explains the greenhouse effect and its cause, with maps showing observed changes in Australia and climate change projections. Potential impacts from global warming are projected for Australia, including sea-level rise and ocean acidification.

This page from the US Environment Protection Agency describes the environmental indicators of ozone depletion.

World Wildlife Fund looks at the changes to the climate caused by humans through global warming, and summarises the impact it is having on life in Australia. A linked Earth Hour interactive shows how the world could change as global temperatures rise.

Ozone depletion, gradual thinning of Earth’s ozone layer in the upper atmosphere caused by the release of chemical compounds containing gaseous chlorine or bromine from industry and other human activities. The thinning is most pronounced in the polar regions, especially over Antarctica. Ozone depletion is a major environmental problem because it increases the amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation that reaches Earth’s surface, which increases the rate of skin cancer, eye cataracts, and genetic and immune system damage.

The emission of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides to the atmosphere by human activities—primarily fossil-fuel burning—has led to the acidification of rain and freshwater aquatic systems. Acid rain is a worldwide problem and has been well documented for eastern North America and the countries of western Europe.

Global warming, the phenomenon of increasing average air temperatures near the surface of Earth over the past one to two centuries. Climate scientists have since the mid-20th century gathered detailed observations of various weather phenomena (such as temperatures, precipitation, and storms) and of related influences on climate (such as ocean currents and the atmosphere’s chemical composition). These data indicate that Earth’s climate has changed over almost every conceivable timescale since the beginning of geologic time and that the influence of human activities since at least the beginning of the Industrial Revolution has been deeply woven into the very fabric of climate change.