Atmospheric chemistry has been the focus of much
research activity in recent years, and there is now
heightened public awareness of the environmental issues
in which it plays a part.
In a clear, readable
style, this important book looks at the insights and
interpretations afforded by the research, and places in
context the exciting, dramatic, and sometimes disturbing
findings.
Like its highly successful
predecessor, this new edition lays down the principles
of atmospheric chemistry and provides the necessary
background for more detailed study. The text has been
thoroughly revised and expanded throughout to take into
account recent advances in atmospheric science that
include a host of new atmospheric measurements, extended
laboratory experiments, ever more sophisticated models,
and ingenious interpretations of the phenomena.
Heterogeneous processes are now known to be of great
significance in the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere,
and new sections of the book discuss the influence of
such processes on both the stratosphere and the
troposphere. A major eruption, that of Mount Pinatubo,
has highlighted how volcanoes can influence 'natural'
atmospheric chemistry, and the opportunity is taken to
examine the effects of the gases and particles produced
in such eruptions. The startling discovery of the
'Antarctic ozone hole' has now been matched by
observations of similar ozone losses in the Arctic; both
phenomena are explored in more depth than before, and
the whole question of trends in stratospheric ozone
concentrations is updated. New topics in tropospheric
chemistry that are discussed in this edition for the
first time include the atmospheric chemistry of biogenic
hydrocarbons, of aromatic compounds, and of halogens and
halogen-containing species.
Several aspects have
been added to the examination of air pollution,
including the effects of biomass burning. Rapid changes
in the composition of the Earth's atmosphere, apparently
a result of man's activities, are apparently even having
an effect on global climate, and recent assessments of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are
presented in this context. Air transport continues to
expand, and the influence of aircraft on atmospheric
chemistry and, indeed, on climate has excited interest
that is explained here. Moving away from Earth,
information gathered by the Voyager, Galileo, and other
space missions, which have provided a new understanding
of the atmosphere of the planets other than our own, is
also discussed and brought up to date.
This book
does not attempt to suggest answers to the environmental
problems facing us, but it lays the foundations for the
study of atmospheric chemistry on which rational
decisions will need to be based. A multidisciplinary
approach is taken throughout in order to highlight the
interplay between the atmosphere of a planet and other
parts of the environment. This feature makes the book
full of interest for chemists, physicists, biologists,
and other scientists alike, and accessible to all of
them. Readers will find the book an excellent
introduction to an exciting topic, and a fascinating
source of information about a part of science that is
proving to be of key importance.
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