Layers of the Atmosphere

Without our zephyr, thither would be no life on earth. Two gases make up the bulk of the earths atmosphere nitrogen (78%), and oxygen (21%). Argon, carbon dioxide and various canvass gases make up the remainder. Scientists divided the atmosphere into four layers according to temperature troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere. The temperature drops as we go up with the troposphere, plainly it rises as we move through the next layer, the stratosphere. The farther away from earth, the lean the atmosphere gets. 1. TROPOSPHEREThis is the layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earths come out, extending up to about 10-15 km in a higher place the Earths surface. It contains 75% of the atmospheres mass. The troposphere is wider at the equator than at the poles. Temperature and pressure drops as you go higher up the troposphere. The TropopauseAt the very top of the troposphere is the tropopause where the temperature reaches a (stable) minimum. Some scientists blazon o ut the tropopause a caloric layer or frore trap because this is a point where advance water vapour cannot go higher because it changes into ice and is trapped.If there is no cold trap, Earth would loose all its water Most of what we call weather gets in the troposphere. The uneven warmnessing of the regions of the troposphere by the Sun causes convection currents and winds. secure air from Earths surface rises and cold air above it rushes in to convert it. When warm air reaches the tropopause, it cannot go higher as the air above it (in the stratosphere) is warmer and lighter preventing much air convection beyond the tropopause. The tropopause acts like an occult barrier and is the reason why most clouds form and weather phenomena occur within the troposphere.The Greenhouse EffectHeat from the Sun warms the Earths surface but most of it is radiated and sent back into space. Water vapour and carbon dioxide in the troposphere trap some of this heat, preventing it from escapin g thus keep the Earth warm. This trapping of heat is called the greenhouse effect. However, if there is too much carbon dioxide in the troposphere then it will trap too much heat. Scientists atomic number 18 white-lipped that the increasing amounts of carbon dioxide would rise the Earths surface temperature, bringing significant changes to intercontinental weather patterns hifting in climatic geographical zones and the melting of the polar ice caps, which could raise the level of the worlds oceans. 2. STRATOSPHERE This layer lies directly above the troposphere and is about 35 km deep. It extends from about 15 to 50 km above the Earths surface. The stratosphere is warmer at the top than the bottom. The lower portion has a nearly constant temperature with point but in the upper portion the temperature increases with altitude because of absorption of cheerfulness by ozone. This temperature increase with altitude is the opposite of the situation in the troposphere.The Ozone sea mThe stratosphere contains a thin layer of ozone molecules (with three oxygen atoms) which forms a tutelar layer shielding life on Earth from the Suns harmful ultraviolet radiation. But this ozone layer is being depleted, and is getting thinner over Europe, Asia, North American and Antarctica. Holes are appearing in the ozone layer. 3. MESOSPHERE right away above the stratosphere, extending from 50 to 80 km above the Earths surface, the mesosphere is a cold layer where the temperature generally decreases with increasing altitude.Here in the mesosphere, the atmosphere is very gallant nevertheless thick complete to slow down meteors hurtling into the atmosphere, where they burn up, deviation fiery trails in the night sky. 4. THERMOSPHERE The thermosphere extends from 80 km above the Earths surface to outer space. The temperature is hot and may be as high as thousands of degrees as the few molecules that are present in the thermosphere receive unmatched large amounts of energy fr om the Sun.However, the thermosphere would actually feel very cold to us because of the probability that these few molecules will hit our skin and transfer enough energy to cause appreciable heat is extremely low. The thermosphere corresponds to the heterosphere , a zone where there is no uniform distribution of gases. In other words, the gases are not well-mixed instead they are stratified that is layered, in accordance to their molecular(a) masses. In contrast, the gases in the homosphere (consisting of the troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere) are uniformly distributed.