Is The Air We breath now the same air that has been around since our ancestors?
2007-08-04 18:52:12 · 7 answers · asked by Vanessa B 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Wuhuh? Are you talking composition? Then no, there have been substantial fluctuations.
2007-08-04 19:00:38 · answer #1 · answered by Aaron H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that the air is same .Means that the main components r same i.e. nitrogen ,oxygen & carbon dioxide but the pollutants have increased.
Nearly 1000 years ago there was no pollutant in the air but now a days if we will look around ,we will find that the % of pollutants may have exceeded the % of some gases that r present in very small amount like argon,dust particles etc.
NICE QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!!
2007-08-05 03:21:17 · answer #2 · answered by priya 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Technically the answer to your question is yes and no.
The gases that make up the air we breath such as oxygen, nitrogen etc. in the atmosphere is constantly changing and being converted in several different cycles. Gas like oxygen is converted to solids and other gases as exemplified by water and carbon dioxide which is used by plants to make more Oxygen as a gas. Nitrogen is washed into the ground by rain and is converted to energy by the growing plants. When plants die they add the nitrogen back to the soil. Oxygen is also being made by lighting breaking apart water in the air and by plants. The oxygen is breathed by animals that convert it to energy and CO2. Oxidation as shown by such things as a burning fire, a rusting nail or a peeled apple turning yellow are examples of the oxygen in the air being turned into oxides, CO2, and Carbon Monoxide. In short "yes" the air we breath contains gases that have been around since our ancestors (excluding the gases stored in meteorites or cosmic dust that is attracted to our planet, but "No" it may not be the same gases because the gases are being used or converted to other compounds containing the gases which themselves may decompose or convert to make reborn gases again.
2007-08-05 04:21:16 · answer #3 · answered by flash 2U 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
more pollutants, obviously. inhabitable air should be between 18 and 22 percent O2, or something like that, and i imagine it has been this way for quite some time
2007-08-05 02:01:50 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Technically, yes. There is new additions and subtractions all of the time, but most that is here now was here many thousands of years ago.
2007-08-05 01:57:16 · answer #5 · answered by K 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes - though it has become very polluted in some parts of the wordl.
2007-08-05 02:00:27 · answer #6 · answered by Richard B 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well due to Newton's law of Conservation of matter (In which matter cannot be created or destroyed)
In simple form...
Yes technically you are...
2007-08-05 04:01:45 · answer #7 · answered by Jerome S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋