Question: how does polution spread throughout the atmosphere

Derek McKay-Bukowski answered on 13 Jun 2011:

Mostly, it is just spread by the wind. As the sun heats the earth, different parts heat differently. The land warms up faster than the oceans, for example. This causes air to heat differently as well. Hotter air rises and as it moves up, more air moves in underneath to take its place. This process is called convection. The air that is moving in underneath is the breeze that you feel on your face on a windy day. Pollution is release into the air from chimneys, engines, fires and so on. It is then blown about by the wind. Differences in the wind speed, turbulence and other random processes mix it up a lot and cause it to spread out too.