CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -"We have presented the first evidence of ammonia being present in Earth’s upper troposphere above 6.2 miles (10 km), ” the team reports. “The region and period of detection is confined to the Asian summer monsoon system."

Detailed explanation-2: -The largest source of NH3 emissions is agriculture, including animal husbandry and NH3-based fertilizer applications. Other sources of NH3 include industrial processes, vehicular emissions and volatilization from soils and oceans.

Detailed explanation-3: -Ammonia concentration in PM2.5 formation is around 8% to 11%, according to other studies, while SO2 has a contribution between 9% to 11%, and NOx from 5% to 11% [48, 76].

Detailed explanation-4: -Gaseous ammonia reacts with other pollutants in the air to form fine particles of ammonium salts, which affect human breathing. Ammonia gas can also affect the chemistry of the soil on which it settles and will, for example, degrade the conditions required by the sphagnum moss and heathers of peatland.

Detailed explanation-5: -When Earth formed 4.6 billion years ago from a hot mix of gases and solids, it had almost no atmosphere. The surface was molten. As Earth cooled, an atmosphere formed mainly from gases spewed from volcanoes. It included hydrogen sulfide, methane, and ten to 200 times as much carbon dioxide as today’s atmosphere.