An atmospheric scientist looks at the relationships between Earth's atmosphere and the other systems it effects. The study of atmospheric sciences includes a number of subdisciplines, including aeronomy, climatology and meteorology.

The United States of America commonly called the United States, is a federal republic consisting of fifty states and a federal district. The 48 contiguous states and the federal district of Washington, D.C. are in first North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in northwestern North America, west of Canada and east of Russia across the Bering Strait, and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-North Pacific. The country also has five populated and nine unpopulated territories in the Pacific and the Caribbean.

Associate of Science degrees are similar to Associate of Arts degrees in that they are offered by community colleges and require general education classes. They differ in the fact that Associate of Science degrees require elective courses on specialized science subjects.