Pollution

Airborne pollutants also affect energy balance. Pollutants in the atmosphere react with other natural and anthropogenic chemicals present, sometimes releasing heat energy, sometimes absorbing heat energy. Some pollutants also play a role in the greenhouse effect. Atmospheric chemistry is an entire field of study, which we encourage you to learn more about by looking at our companion course in tropospheric chemistry. Though the scope of this course will allow us to mention it only briefly here, we emphasize that chemistry plays an important role in energy balance in the atmosphere.