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The Database for the Environment

The Database for the Environment gives you a good overview about all important aspects of our environment.

Air

Deutsch: Erdatmosphäre / Español: Atmósfera terrestre / Português: Atmosfera terrestre / Français: Atmosphère terrestre / Italiano: Atmosfera terrestre

The air around us is called atmosphere. It is a layer of a mixed gas (consisting of different single gases) surrounding the whole globe and kept by Earth's gravity.

Acid Rain

Acid rain is the result of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) reacting in the atmosphere with water and returning to earth as rain, fog, or snow. Broadly used to include both wet and dry deposition. The acid rain page provides a great deal of information about this issue.

Air Toxics

Air Toxics are any Air Pollutant for which a national Ambient Air quality standard (NAAQS) does not exist (i.e. excluding ozone, carbon monoxide, PM-10, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide

Background concentrations:

A Background concentrations: is In this context, EPA uses background concentrations to mean the contributions to outdoor Air Toxics concentrations resulting from natural sources, persistence in the environment of past years' emissions and long-range transport from distant sources.