The atmosphere and the environment

The composition of the atmosphere has changed since the Earth was formed 4.5 billion years ago. Natural processes and human activity have changed the
atmosphere, and continue to change it today.

Composition of the atmosphere

The early atmosphere

Scientists believe that the Earth was formed about 4.5 billion years ago. It is believed that there
was intense volcanic activity for the first billion years of the Earth's existence. Its early
atmosphere was probably formed from the gases given out by volcanoes. The greatest
proportion of volcanic gases are made up of carbon dioxide, water vapour and ammonia.

As the Earth cooled down, most of the water vapour condensed and formed the oceans.

It is thought that the atmospheres of Mars and Venus today, which contain mostly carbon
dioxide, are similar to the early atmosphere of the Earth.

Scientists can’t be sure about the early atmosphere and can only draw evidence from other
sources. For example, volcanoes release high quantities of carbon dioxide. Iron-
based compounds are present in very old rocks that could only have formed if there was little or
no oxygen at the time.

Changes in the atmosphere

So how did the proportion of carbon dioxide, methane and ammonia in the atmosphere go down,
and the proportion of oxygen go up?

 The proportion of oxygen increased because of photosynthesis by plants.

 The proportion of ammonia decreased as it reacted with the newly formed oxygen in the
atmosphere to form nitrogen and water vapour.
 The proportion of methane decreased as it reacted with the newly formed oxygen to form
carbon dioxide and water.
The proportion of carbon dioxide went down because:

 it was locked up in sedimentary rocks formed from marine animal shells (such as limestone and
chalk) and in fossil fuels
 it was absorbed by plants for photosynthesis
 it dissolved in the oceans

The burning of fossil fuels is adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere faster than it can be
removed. This means that the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing.

The modern atmosphere

The air is a mixture of gases. The amount of water vapour in the air varies from place to place,
and day to day. For this reason, the proportions of the gases in the air are usually given for dry
air.

Some of the gases in the air are elements:

 nitrogen, N2
 oxygen, O2
 argon, Ar
 neon, Ne
Note that these gases can be extracted from the air for various uses using fractional distillation.

Some are compounds, including:

 carbon dioxide, CO2

 water vapour, H2O

Maintaining oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the

atmosphere
The percentage of oxygen in our atmosphere has remained almost constant for thousands of
years. This is due to three important processes that occur simultaneously and balance out any
changes.

 Respiration – nearly all living cells use oxygen to obtain energy from their food using respiration.
This process takes in oxygen from the atmosphere and releases carbon dioxide.
 Combustion – whenever organic material, such as wood or grass, burns, oxygen reacts with the
carbon and hydrogen in the material, releasing heat and light in the form of fire. This process
takes in oxygen from the atmosphere and releases carbon dioxide.
 Photosynthesis – plants produce their own food in the form of glucose using the process of
photosynthesis. This process uses sunlight (and so only occurs during the day) to remove
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen.
In the last few thousand years, these three processes have balanced each other out, maintaining
levels of oxygen at around 21 per cent.

Increasing carbon dioxide levels

In the last hundred years or so, a number of factors have contributed to increasing carbon dioxide
levels in our atmosphere. These include:

 the burning of fossil fuel – this process is adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere faster than it
can be removed by photosynthesis
  the growth of human and animal populations – this has increased the overall level of
respiration, leading to increased carbon dioxide levels
 deforestation – cutting down large areas of forest and rainforest for resources such as wood, so
that the land can be used as farmland reduces the amount of photosynthesis occurring, and
so less carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere
The increase in carbon dioxide levels due to these factors has been linked to the rise in global
temperatures, an effect known as global warming.

Sulfur dioxide and acid rain

All rain is weakly acidic due to dissolved carbon dioxide. However, certain pollutants released
into the atmosphere can cause the rain to become strongly acidic.

Many fossil fuels contain sulfur impurities. When these fuels are burned, the sulfur is oxidised to
form sulfur dioxide.

S(s) + O2(g) → SO2(g)

This sulfur dioxide then dissolves in droplets of rainwater to form sulfuric acid:

H2SO4

When fuels are burned in vehicle engines, high temperatures are reached. At these high
temperatures, nitrogen and oxygen from the air combine to produce oxides of nitrogen, which
refers to a number of different compounds formed from the chemical reaction of nitrogen and
oxygen.

Oxides of nitrogen (referred to collectively as NOx) also cause acid rain.

Nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide are jointly referred to as NOx.

Effects of acid rain

Acid rain reacts with metals and rocks such as limestone. Buildings and statues are damaged as a
result, particularly those made of limestone (calcium carbonate). Acid rain also increases the rate
of corrosion of metal structures such as bridges and statues.

Acid rain damages the waxy layer on the leaves of trees and makes it more difficult for trees to
absorb the minerals they need for healthy growth. They may die as a result.

Acid rain also makes rivers and lakes too acidic for some aquatic life to survive.

Managing atmospheric change

Increasing carbon dioxide levels and the associated increase in global temperature are likely to
have serious consequences for the Earth and its inhabitants if left unchecked, such as:
  more extreme (and dangerous) weather such as hurricanes, flooding and droughts (due to
hotter summers)
 rising sea levels leading to the flooding of large areas of land
 the destruction of wildlife habitats leading to possible extinction
Certain measures can be taken to try to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Reducing the use of fossil fuels

There are many ways that governments, businesses and individuals can reduce the use of fossil
fuels.

 Use of nuclear and renewable energy sources to replace the burning of coal, oil and gas. These
include solar panels, wind turbines, tidal turbines.
 Recycling and reusing materials as much as possible to minimise the fossil fuels needed to make
replacement materials. For example, the energy required to recycle aluminium is only five per
cent of that needed to make new aluminium, reducing the need for fossil fuels. Also, plastics
are made from chemicals in crude oil, and so recycling plastics reduces the need to use more
crude oil.
 Development and use of more fuel-efficient transportation technology.
 Reducing energy consumption in the home, eg insulating homes, turning the heating down by a
couple of degrees, using more energy efficient appliances, not leaving TVs and games
consoles on standby etc.
 Using mass transportation, eg trains and buses instead of cars – or sharing cars where possible.

Reforestation
Large areas of rainforest have been cut down in recent years. As plants naturally remove carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen, it makes sense to plant more trees to try to
make up for this loss. However, it is proving difficult to replant every tree that is lost and we are
still losing almost 200,000 square kilometres of forested land every year.

Cleaning fuel emissions [Higher tier only]

It is possible to remove some of the harmful emissions from burning fossil fuels before they
escape into the atmosphere, although it is only possible to do this effectively for large scale
emissions such as those from power plants.

The most common form of this is known as carbon capture. This involves capturing the carbon
dioxide from the waste gases (usually by dissolving the carbon dioxide in a special solvent) and
then transporting it to a secure storage site such as depleted oil and gas fields where it can be left
indefinitely.
There are also techniques in use that can remove sulfur dioxide from waste gases in order to
reduce acid rain. These techniques are referred to as sulfur scrubbing and can remove more than
95 per cent of sulfur dioxide from waste gases.

1.

Tests for gases

Hydrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide can be identified using different tests.

Hydrogen
Putting the flame of a lighted wooden splint in a test tube of hydrogen makes a ‘squeaky pop’
sound.

Oxygen
Putting a glowing wooden splint in a test tube of oxygen, causing the splint to relight.

Carbon dioxide
Bubbling carbon dioxide through limewater changes it from colourless to ‘milky’ due to the
formation of a white precipitate of calcium carbonate.

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