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Box II.2.1 Environmentally Important
Atmospheric Species
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These species are scientifically interesting and
important to human health and welfare because of their radiative
(e.g., climate changing) and/or chemical properties. They include
the following:
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• Stratospheric ozone
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• Greenhouse gases
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• Photochemical oxidants
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• Atmospheric aerosols
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• Toxics and nutrients
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Documenting the changing concentrations and
distribution of these species, elucidating the processes that
control their concentrations, and assessing their impacts on
important environmental and ecological parameters will define the
principal challenges for atmospheric chemistry in the coming
decades.
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The scientific questions facing atmospheric chemistry entering
the twenty-first century are intellectually profound but are also
of vital social and economic importance. They relate to atmospheric
constituents that are fundamentally important to our environment:
stratospheric ozone, greenhouse gases, ozone and photochemical
oxidants in the lower atmosphere, atmospheric aerosols or
particulate matter, and toxics and nutrients (see Box II.2.1). It
is perhaps a measure of the strides made in recent decades, that
the issues of atmospheric chemistry are familiar to the general
public, policy makers, and scientists alike. Continued progress in
the twenty-first century will require an ambitious, but judicious,
commitment of financial, technological, and human resources to
document the changing composition of the atmosphere and elucidate
the causes and potential consequences of these changes.
Major Scientific Questions and
Challenge
The principal focus for atmospheric chemistry research entering
the twenty-first century will be the "Environmentally Important
Atmospheric Species"— species that, by virtue of their
radiative and/or chemical properties, affect climate, key
ecosystems, and living organisms (including humans). From an
intellectual point of view, these species are interesting because
they influence the life support system of our planet. From a
societal point of view, they are also of central importance because
they directly impact human health and welfare.
