from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. The gaseous mass or envelope surrounding a celestial body, especially the one surrounding the earth, and retained by the celestial body's gravitational field.
- n. The air or climate in a specific place.
- n. Physics A unit of pressure equal to the air pressure at sea level. It equals the amount of pressure that will support a column of mercury 760 millimeters high at 0 degrees Celsius under standard gravity, or 14.7 pounds per square inch (1.01325 × 105 pascals). See Table at measurement.
- n. A dominant intellectual or emotional environment or attitude: an atmosphere of distrust among the electorate.
- n. The dominant tone or mood of a work of art.
- n. An aesthetic quality or effect, especially a distinctive and pleasing one, associated with a particular place: a restaurant with an Old World atmosphere.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. The gases surrounding the Earth or any astronomical body.
- n. The air in a particular place.
- n. The mood or feeling in a situation.
- n. A unit of measurement for pressure (symbol: atm)
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. The whole mass of aëriform fluid surrounding the earth; -- applied also to the gaseous envelope of any celestial orb, or other body.
- n. Any gaseous envelope or medium.
- n. A supposed medium around various bodies.
- n. The pressure or weight of the air at the sea level, on a unit of surface, or about 14.7 lbs. to the sq. inch.
- n. Any surrounding or pervading influence or condition.
- n. The portion of air in any locality, or affected by a special physical or sanitary condition
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The aëriform fluid which surrounds the earth, and extends to an undetermined height above its surface; the air.
- n. A conventional unit of atmospheric pressure.
- n. The gaseous envelop surrounding any of the heavenly bodies.
- n. Any gaseous medium: as, “an atmosphere of cold oxygen,” Miller.
- n. An assumed outer envelop of force, effluvia, etc., surrounding a body: as, an electrical atmosphere.
- n. Figuratively, intellectual or moral environment; pervading influence.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. the mass of air surrounding the Earth
- n. a distinctive but intangible quality surrounding a person or thing
- n. a particular environment or surrounding influence
- n. the envelope of gases surrounding any celestial body
- n. the weather or climate at some place
- n. a unit of pressure: the pressure that will support a column of mercury 760 mm high at sea level and 0 degrees centigrade
_ -- Watt being a mathematical instrument maker, was requested to repair an old engine used by some students of Glasgow University; having finished the repairs, and in working this model (the best type of the atmospheric engine), he found and proved by many and various experiments, that an enormous waste of fuel was absolutely necessary in working the engine; he found great difficulty in keeping the air from entering the cylinder, and the cylinder top was so exposed to the atmosphere that the steam was much condensed when it entered the cylinder, and he came to the conclusion to put a cover on the top of the cylinder, and allow the piston-rod to play in a hole in the cover with a gland and stuffing box, and _to press down the piston with steam instead of the atmosphere_.
When the atmosphere is of the same weight and density orer a considerable extent of the surface of the earth, there a calm will obtain: but if this equipoise is taken off, a stream of air, or. wind, is produced, stronger or weaker in proportion to the alteration made in the state of the atmosphere* There are direr* causes which make these alterations in the equipoise of the atmosphere, such as rarefactions or conden - sations in one part more than in another; yapoura rising from the earth or sea, pressure of the clouds, &c.
However, the bit that one tree can draw from the atmosphere is a minute fraction of what another tree, left uncut, would consume.
Accordingly the atmosphere is a bit strained and the men have difficulties in getting used to this kind of treatment.
Until you've played in one, you don't realize how different the atmosphere is at a major.
We could, if the we decide that reducing the amount of co2 in the atmosphere is a worthy goal, use some of the proceeds of a carbon tax to pay for schemes that get co2 from the atmosphere and sequester it.
Pumping sulfur into the atmosphere is a lot easier than trying to orchestrate the actions of 200 countries — or, for that matter, 7 billion individuals — each of whom has strong incentives to cheat.
Peak coal will follow peak oil by about 20 years, maybe 10 if we pursue the insane delusions of the cornucopians who think that trying make Nazi oil and pumping all the carbon of the coal fields into the atmosphere is a good idea.
Just curious as they seemed to be crying about how bad the atmosphere is here while going out of their way to make it worse.
But a well-funded, fully verified program funding projects that permanently remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere is a good start, a beginning to a more holistic solution, and a means through which consumers can voice their concerns and desire to make a real difference.