5. Earths’ great spheres
◦ Lithosphere – the lithosphere contains all of the cod, hard solid land of the
planet’s crust (surface), the semi-solid land underneath the crust, and the
liquid land near the center of the planet
◦ Hydrosphere – the hydrosphere contains all the solid, liquid and
gaseous water of the plane
◦ Biosphere – the biosphere contains all the planet’s living things. This
sphere includes all the miccroorganisms, plant and animal of earth
◦ Atmosphere – the atmosphere contains all the air in the Earth’s system
7. Atmosphere
◦ It is a mixture of gases that forms a layer of about 500 km
thick around the earth
◦ Bottom 10-15 km (Troposphere) are most important part in
terms of weather and other aspects of biogeochemical cycle
◦ The lowest 600 meters of Troposphere
8.
9. Name of region Height above the
earth’s surface , km
Temperature range ,
C
Major chemical
species
Troposphere 0-11 15 to -56 O2,N2,CO2,H2O
Stratosphere 11-50 -56 to -2 O3
Mesosphere 50-85 -2 to -92 O2 and NO+
THermosphere 85-500 -92 to 1200 O+,O2.and NO+
10.
11. Interaction of Earth’ sphere
Class Activity: CREATE YOUR OWN STORY BOARD THE INTERACTION BETWEEN
ATMOSPHERE,
HYDROSPHERE, LITOSPHERE AND BIOSPHERE (30 minutes)
12. Types of Air Pollution
◦ Personal air exposure -It refers to exposure to dust, fumes and
gases to which an individual exposes himself when he indulge
himself in smoking
◦ Occupational air exposure -It represents the type of exposure of
individuals to potentially harmful concentration of aerosols, vapors,
and gases in their working environment
◦ Community air exposure -This is most serious, complex, consists of
varieties of assortment of pollution sources, meteorological factors,
and wide variety of adverse social, economical, and health effects.
13. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under
CC BY-SA
14. Air Pollutants
◦Any substance occurring in the atmosphere that may
have adverse effects on humans, animals, plant life,
and/or inanimate materials.
◦Air pollutants have known or suspected harmful
effects on human health and environment
15. Criteria Air Pollutants
◦ • NAAQS set national levels for acceptable concentrations of specific pollutants in
outdoor air known as “criteria pollutants”
◦ NAAQS consist of pollutant concentrations in air that may not be exceeded NAAQS
are federal standards that apply coast to-coast, regardless of jurisdiction
◦ National Ambient Air Quality Standards Two types of standards are developed:
◦ ✓ “Primary” standards to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety
◦ ✓ “Secondary” standards to protect public welfare and the environment
16. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
17. Hazardous Air Pollutants
Examples of toxic air pollutants include
•benzene, which is found in gasoline;
•perchloroethylene, which is emitted from some dry
cleaning facilities; and
•methylene chloride, which is used as a solvent and
paint stripper by a number of industries.
Examples of other listed air toxics include dioxin,
asbestos, toluene, and metals such as cadmium,
mercury, chromium, and lead compounds.
Hazardous air pollutants, also known as toxic air pollutants or air toxics, are those pollutants that
are known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects, such as reproductive
effects or birth defects, or adverse environmental effects - EPA
18. Scale of Air
Pollution
◦ Air pollution
problems may
occur on three
scales:
Micro
scale
Meso
scale
Macro
scale
19. Scale of Air Pollution
Micro-scale problems range from those covering less than a centimeter
to those the size of a house or slightly larger (few meters to 100s of
meter).
Meso-scale air pollution problems are those of a few hectares up
to the size of a city or county (local-to-regional ).
Macro-scale problems extend from counties to states, nations, and in
the broadest sense, the globe (regional-to continental scale)
24. Example of modeling and simulation
Lateb, Mohamed & Meroney, Robert & Yataghene, Mourad & Fellouah, Hachimi & Saleh, Firas & Boufadel, Michel. (2016). On the use of numerical modelling for near-
field pollutant dispersion in urban environments − A review. Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987). 208. 271-283. 10.1016/j.envpol.2015.07.039.
