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ing of gases, water droplets (clouds/precipitation) and aerosols Formation of the continents and ocean basins ? 225 million years ago from Pangaea (the super continent) Permanent gases and variable gases ? Residence time: The amount of time a gas is in the atmosphere ? The permanent gases: gases having long residence times (N2=42,000,000 y, O2=5,000 y), % of total atmosphere mass ? The variable gases: Gases generally having shorter residence times (H2O=10 days, CO2=150 y). Importance of the Variable Gases ? CO2 and water vapor are the major greenhouse gases ? Water can exist in all three phases (vapor, liquid, ice) on Earth. The released latent heat during phase changes of water drives global atmospheric circulation and many weather systems (. hurricanes). ? O3 protects us against harmful ultraviolet radiation Montreal Protocol to ban freon Earth’s climate history Temperature variation during the past billion years The ice ages ? An ice age is a long interval of time (106 to 107 of years) when global temperatures are relatively cold and large areas of the Earth are covered by continental ice sheets and alpine glaciers. ? At least 5 ice ages have occurred throughout Earth’s history. Currently, we are living in an ice age! ? Ty