Exam 17: The Atmosphere

__________ is the release of volatiles from Earth's mantle in volcanic eruptions.

Acidity is expressed on the __________ scale.

The highest portion of the atmosphere that absorbs high-energy radiation is the:

Acid precipitation forms when sulfur dioxide reacts with ozone in the stratosphere.

A/an __________ is used to measure air pressure.

Incompletely burned gasoline in automobile exhaust reacts to deplete ozone in the troposphere.

During the __________ __________ __________ __________, about 2.4 billion years ago, oxygen concentration in the atmosphere increased to appreciable quantities.

Chlorofluorocarbons and halons destroy ozone in the stratosphere.

__________ were the earliest photosynthetic life-forms on Earth.

Twenty people died, and half the people in Donora, Pennsylvania, were seriously ill from the effects of air pollution in 1948.

A second rapid increase of oxygen in the atmosphere (the Second Great Oxidation Event) started about __________ years ago.

As early multicellular organisms evolved, they released more __________ into the atmosphere.

The ozone in the upper atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing much of the high-energy radiation before it reaches Earth's surface.

The largest source of air pollutants in the United States is/are __________.

The major legislation that dictates federal air pollution policy is the __________ __________ __________.

Atmospheric temperature decreases continuously with altitude in all layers.

The primary source of sulfur oxide pollution is/are:

If all life on Earth were to cease, the atmosphere would revert to its primitive, oxygen-poor composition and become poisonous to modern plants and animals.

Acidic precipitation is produced:

__________ in the stratosphere absorbs ultraviolet radiation.