Importance in The Earth Atmosphere
The hydroxyl •HO radicals is one of the main chemical species controlling the oxidizing capacity of the global Earth atmosphere. This oxidizing reactive species has a major impact on the concentrations and distribution of greenhouse gases and pollutants in the Earth atmosphere. It is the most widespread oxidizer in the troposphere, the lowest part of the atmosphere. Understanding •HO variability is important to evaluating human impacts on the atmosphere and climate. The •HO species has a lifetime in the Earth atmosphere of less than one second. Understanding the role of •HO in the oxidation process of methane (CH4) present in the atmosphere to first carbon monoxide (CO) and then carbon dioxide (CO2) is important for assessing the residence time of this greenhouse gas, the overall carbon budget of the troposphere, and its influence on the process of global warming. The lifetime of •HO radicals in the Earth atmosphere is very short, therefore •HO concentrations in the air are very low and very sensitive techniques are required for its direct detection. Global average hydroxyl radical concentrations have been measured indirectly by analyzing methyl chloroform (CH3CCl3) present in the air. The results obtained by Montzka et al. (2011) shows that the interannual variability in •HO estimated from CH3CCl3 measurements is small, indicating that global •HO is generally well buffered against perturbations. This small variability is consistent with measurements of methane and other trace gases primarily oxidized by •HO, as well as global photochemical model calculations.
Read more about this topic: Hydroxyl Radical
Famous quotes containing the words importance, earth and/or atmosphere:
“Kitsch is the daily art of our time, as the vase or the hymn was for earlier generations. For the sensibility it has that arbitrariness and importance which works take on when they are no longer noticeable elements of the environment. In America kitsch is Nature. The Rocky Mountains have resembled fake art for a century.”
—Harold Rosenberg (1906–1978)
“If we consider the superiority of the human species, the size of its brain, its powers of thinking, language and organization, we can say this: were there the slightest possibility that another rival or superior species might appear, on earth or elsewhere, man would use every means at his disposal to destroy it.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“A noble soul is not the one that can manage the highest flights but the one that rises very little and falls very little but always dwells in a free, resplendent atmosphere and altitude.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)