The Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained

by the Earth's gravity. Dry air contains roughly (by molar content – equivalent to volume,
for gases)

78.08% nitrogen,

20.95% oxygen,

0.93% argon,

0.038% carbon dioxide,

and trace amounts of other gases; but air also contains a variable amount of water vapor,
on average around 1%.

This mixture of gases is commonly known as air. The atmosphere protects life on Earth
by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation and reducing temperature extremes between day
and night.

There is no definite boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. It slowly becomes
thinner and fades into space. Three quarters of the atmosphere's mass is within 11 km of
the planetary surface. An altitude of 120 km (~75 miles or 400,000 ft) marks the
boundary where atmospheric effects become noticeable during re-entry. The Kármán
line, at 100 km (62 miles or 328,000 ft), is also frequently regarded as the boundary
between atmosphere and outer space.

````````Atmospheric gases scatter blue light more than other wavelengths, giving the Earth
a blue halo when seen from space`````````

Kyoto Protocol

Participation in the Kyoto Protocol, where dark green indicates countries that have signed
and ratified the treaty, yellow is signed, but not yet ratified, grey is not yet decided and
red is no intention of ratifying.

As of April 2008, 178 states have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, aimed at combating global
warming.
The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the international Framework Convention on Climate
Change with the objective of reducing greenhouse gases in an effort to prevent
anthropogenic climate change.

It was adopted for use on 11 December 1997 by the 3rd Conference of the Parties, which
was meeting in Kyoto, and it entered into force on 16 February 2005. As of May 2008,
182 parties have ratified the protocol.[11] Of these, 36 developed C.G. countries (plus the
EU as a party in its own right) are required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the
levels specified for each of them in the treaty (representing over 61.6% of emissions from
Annex I countries),[11][12] with three more countries intending to participate.[13] One
hundred thirty-seven (137) developing countries have ratified the protocol, including
Brazil, China and India, but have no obligation beyond monitoring and reporting
emissions. The United States is the only developed and industrialized western country
that has not ratified the treaty but it is one of the significant greenhouse gas emitters.

The temperature of the Earth's atmosphere varies with altitude; the mathematical
relationship between temperature and altitude varies among five different atmospheric
layers (ordered highest to lowest, the ionosphere is part of the thermosphere):

• Exosphere: from 500 – 1000 km (300 – 600 mi) up to 10,000 km (6,000 mi),
free-moving particles that may migrate into and out of the magnetosphere or the
solar wind.

exobase boundary

• Ionosphere: the part of the atmosphere that is ionized by solar radiation. It plays
an important part in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the
magnetosphere. It has practical importance because, among other functions, it
influences radio propagation to distant places on the Earth. It is located in the
thermosphere and is responsible for auroras.

thermopause boundary

• Thermosphere: from 80 – 85 km (265,000 – 285,000 ft) to 640+ km (400+ mi),

temperature increasing with height.

mesopause boundary

• Mesosphere: From the Greek word "μέσος" meaning middle. The mesosphere
extends from about 50 km (160,000 ft) to the range of 80 to 85 km (265,000 –
285,000 ft), temperature decreasing with height. This is also where most
meteors burn up when entering the atmosphere.

stratopause boundary
 • Stratosphere: From the Latin word "stratus" meaning a spreading out. The
stratosphere extends from the troposphere's 7 to 17 km (23,000 – 60,000 ft) range
to about 50 km (160,000 ft). Temperature increases with height. The
stratosphere contains the ozone layer, the part of the Earth's atmosphere which
contains relatively high concentrations of ozone. "Relatively high" means a few
parts per million—much higher than the concentrations in the lower atmosphere
but still small compared to the main components of the atmosphere. It is mainly
located in the lower portion of the stratosphere from approximately 15 to 35 km
(50,000 – 115,000 ft) above Earth's surface, though the thickness varies
seasonally and geographically.

tropopause boundary

• Troposphere: From the Greek word "τρέπω" meaning to turn or change. The
troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere; it begins at the surface and
extends to between 7 km (23,000 ft) at the poles and 17 km (60,000 ft) at the
equator, with some variation due to weather factors. The troposphere has a great
deal of vertical mixing because of solar heating at the surface. This heating warms
air masses, which makes them less dense so they rise. When an air mass rises, the
pressure upon it decreases so it expands, doing work against the opposing
pressure of the surrounding air. To do work is to expend energy, so the
temperature of the air mass decreases. As the temperature decreases, water vapor
in the air mass may condense or solidify, releasing latent heat that further uplifts
the air mass. This process determines the maximum rate of decline of temperature
with height, called the adiabatic lapse rate. The troposphere contains roughly
80% of the total mass of the atmosphere. Fifty percent of the total mass of the
atmosphere is located in the lower 5.6 km of the troposphere.

The average temperature of the atmosphere at the surface of Earth is 15 °C (59 °F).[1][2]

Layers of the atmosphere (not to scale)

Atmosphere
 The atmosphere is divided into five layers. It is
thickest near the surface and thins out with
height until it eventually merges with space.
1) The troposphere is the first layer above the
surface and contains half of the Earth's
atmosphere. Weather occurs in this layer.
2) Many jet aircrafts fly in the stratosphere
because it is very stable. Also, the ozone layer
absorbs harmful rays from the Sun.
3) Meteors or rock fragments burn up in the
mesosphere.
4) The thermosphere is a layer with auroras. It
is also where the space shuttle orbits.
5) The atmosphere merges into space in the
extremely thin exosphere. This is the upper limit
of our atmosphere.
This image shows the average
temperature profile
through the Earth's
atmosphere.
Click on image for full size
with labels (49K JPEG)