CHEMISTRY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

COURSE CONTENT

 INTRODUCTION
 CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE
 CHEMISTRY OF WATER
 SOIL CHEMISTRY
INTRODUCTION

 The environment is composed of the air we breathe, the land we live on,
the water we drink and the climate around us.
 It is important that to ensure that the developments do not adversely
affect our environment, while also ensuring mitigation of the damage that
has already occurred
INTRODUCTION

 Chemistry can help us to understand, monitor, protect and improve the

environment around us.
 Tools and techniques are developed to enable us to measure air and
water pollution.
 Software are used to model the trend of changes in climate from the
past, to the present and for the future.
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

Formation of the Atmosphere

1. Primitive Atmosphere
 4.5 Billion years ago, the atmosphere was composed of Hydrogen, Helium, Ammonia and Methane,
similar to the atmosphere of Saturn and Jupiter today
2. Secondary Atmosphere
 Volcanic activity from the Earth’s solid crust released gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide
and ammonia, similar to the atmosphere of Mars and Venus today
 As the Earth grew cooler, water vapor formed into clouds creating rain, which resulted to
formation of the ocean
 Nitrogen was formed from the breakdown of ammonia due to sunlight
 Other gases formed were hydrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide in trace amounts, with
hydrogen sulfide (H2S), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and chlorine
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

Formation of the Atmosphere

3. Oxidizing Atmosphere
 Oxygen was produced from
a. dissociation of water vapor by strong ultraviolet radiation
b. Photosynthesis of cyanobacteria
c. Oxidation of metals present in the Earth’s surface
 Oxygen molecules started absorbing UV radiations resulting to the formation of ozone
(O3)
 Formation of O3 made life on Earth possible
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

Atmosphere
➢ thick mixture of gases surrounding the Earth’s surface
➢ serves as a shield used to protect life, making our planet unique
➢ mixture of gases is forced to remain near the Earth’s surface due to gravity
➢ decrease in atmospheric material is observed with increase in altitude, until it gradually
reaches outer space
Karman Line
➢ an imaginary line which identifies the boundary between the atmosphere and outer space
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

History
Important Discoveries of Atmospheric Elements

Year of Discovery Element/Compound Discovered by

1750s Carbon dioxide Joseph Black
1766 Hydrogen Henry Cavendish
1772 Nitrogen Daniel Rutherford
1774 Oxygen Joseph Priestly and
1772 (published in 1777) Carl Wilhem Scheele
1840 Ozone Christian Friedrich Schonbein
1894 Argon Lord Rayleigh and William Ramsay
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

History
Important Milestones of Atmospheric Chemistry
Year Scientist Discovery
Developed a spectrophotometer and started measurements of total-
1924 Gordon Dobson
column ozone
1930 Sydney Chapman Described the theory that explains the existence of the ozone layer
1960 Arie Jan Haagen-Smit Described the emergence of the photochemical smog
1973 James Lovelock First detected chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the Atmosphere
Paul Crutzen Awarded jointly the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work in
1995 Mario Molina atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and
Frank Sherwood Rowland decomposition of ozone
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

Atmospheric Composition
Atmospheric gases are generally classified by their amount and residence time.

 Residence Time
 the average amount of time that a gas spends in the atmosphere
 It can be estimated as the amount of the compound in the atmosphere divided by the rate at which
this compound is removed from the atmosphere
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

Atmospheric Composition Classification of Atmospheric Gases

Main components Trace gases
Classification of Gases
Constant Gases Nitrogen, oxygen and Other noble gases (neon,
 Based on the Amount argon helium, krypton, xenon)
a. Major Components
Variable Gases Carbon dioxide Other long-lived trace
b. Trace Gases gases (methane, hydrogen,
nitrous oxide)
 Based on the Residence Time
Highly Variable Water vapor Other short-lived trace
a. Constant Gases Gases gases (carbon monoxide,
ozone, nitrogen dioxide,
b. Variable Gases ammonia, sulfur dioxide,
c. Highly Variable Gases hydrogen sulfide)
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

Atmospheric Gases
Composition of the Atmosphere as Percent by Volume of Gases

Nitrogen 78.08%

Oxygen 20.95%

Argon 0.934%
Carbon
0.035%
Dioxide
Trace Gases 0.001%
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

NITROGEN
 an inert gas fundamental to all living systems
 Removed from the atmosphere through a process called nitrogen fixation wherein
atmospheric N2 is reduced to form ammonia.
 can be “fixed” or removed by soil bacteria or by lightning during precipitation.
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

NITROGEN
 can be returned to the atmosphere by biomass combustion and denitrification.
 Denitrification – the reduction of nitrates to gaseous nitrogen by microorganisms
in a series of biochemical reactions.
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

OXYGEN
 Oxygen exchange between the atmosphere and biosphere is realized by
photosynthesis and respiration.
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

ARGON
 third most abundant gas in the atmosphere. Most of atmospheric argon is
radiogenic 40Ar isotope derived from decay in 40K (potassium) in the Earth’s crust.
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

WATER VAPOR
 is mostly concentrated on the lower atmosphere (about 90% of total atmospheric
water vapor found in the lower 5 km atmospheric layer, and 99% of it found in the
troposphere)
 Saturation Level the capacity of air to hold water vapor dependent solely on air
temperature. The higher the temperature, the greater amount of water vapor that
can be held without condensation.
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

WATER VAPOR
 important for radiation and energy budgets of the atmosphere, and in the formation
of clouds and precipitation
 absorbs about 70% of the incoming shortwave solar radiation, and about 60% of
outgoing long-wave radiations, making it the most significant greenhouse gas.
Energy/Heat Budget – describes the net flow of energy into the Earth which is
mainly in the form of shortwave radiation and infrared longwave radiation.
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

CARBON DIOXIDE
 an important greenhouse gas since it has a strong absorption capacity of infrared and
near-infrared radiation

 it is continually exchanged between the atmosphere and biosphere through

photosynthesis and respiration
CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE

CARBON DIOXIDE
 Some of atmospheric CO2 are dissolved by the seas and oceans.

 increase in CO2 levels has been observed due to growing industries and human
activities, like burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and other forms of land-use
change.