Atmosphere Basics

So what is the sky? What is the atmosphere? What is air? It's

all round you and you need it to live. Sometimes it's a cool breeze.
Sometimes it's a really hot and humid day that seems to push on you
from all sides. It's really just a thin layer of gases that surrounds the
Earth. Just like there are layers inside the Earth, there are layers in
the atmosphere. The layers interact, get heated up and mix with the
top layer of the Earth's crust.

The atmosphere is made up of five layers of air: the

Troposphere, the Stratosphere, the Mesosphere, the Thermosphere,
and the Exosphere (along with the Ionosphere). In the next few
minutes you will be reading certain things about each layer. You will
be starting at sea level and reaching up to the height of 20,000 miles.

Over 99% of the mass of the Earth's atmosphere is contained in

two layers: the troposphere and the stratosphere. Most of the Earth's
atmosphere (80 to 90%) is found in the troposphere, the atmospheric
layer where we live.

The thin envelope of air that surrounds our planet is a mixture of gases, each with its
own physical properties. The mixture is far from evenly divided. Two elements, nitrogen and
oxygen, make up 99% of the volume of air.

Nitrogen (N2), comprises 78% of the

atmosphere, and oxygen (O2), accounts for
21% (see chart above). The other 1% is
composed of "trace" gases, the most
prevalent of which is the inert gaseous
element argon (Ar, 0.9%). The rest of the
trace gases, although present in only
minute amounts, are very important to life
on Earth. Two in particular, carbon
dioxide (CO2, 0.04%) and ozone (O3), can
have a large impact on atmospheric
processes. Other trace gases include: neon,
helium, krypton and xenon.

The Troposphere
 The first and the lowest of these layers is called the TROPOSPHERE. It is the most
crowded with gas molecules (highest density) and is where all our weather, clouds, wind and
precipitation are found. It is also the only layer of the atmosphere that can support life. 80% of
the atmosphere’s mass and 75% of the gases in the atmosphere are found here. Over the United
States the troposphere reaches up to 40,000 feet, almost 8 miles (11 km).

The troposphere is also the only layer of the atmosphere that has water vapor in it. This
is why all of the weather is in this layer.
There is a large range of temperatures in the troposphere. One hot summer day at the
bottom of this gas layer the temperature may be 95° F. (35C) But at the top of the troposphere
the temperature goes down to a freezing -70° F (-56C). The temperature generally drops 6C for
every 1 km you rise.
We also know the troposphere for its winds and air currents. At the top of this gas layer it
generally blows at 150 to 200 miles per hour in a westerly direction. The troposphere also has
many air currents that move up and down. Soaring pilots search for these currents and ride
them aloft as though they were in a elevator. These wind currents are called thermal currents.

The top of the troposphere is called the TROPOPAUSE. Water vapor is found in only
small amounts in the tropopause.

The Stratosphere
The second layer of air is called the STRATOSPHERE. It begins where the tropopause
ends. The stratosphere reaches the height of 150,000 feet or about 30 miles. Lower parts of the
stratosphere are filled with winds and are extremely cold. But at higher altitudes in the
stratosphere the wind begins to weaken and eventually die. At about 20 miles up the
temperature gradually rises from -70° F (-56C) to about 30° F (-1C). The cause of this sudden
warming is a layer of gas called the OZONE. The top of the stratosphere is called the
STRATOPAUSE. In the stratopause the atmospheric pressure is only 1/1000 the pressure at sea
level.

The Mesosphere
Above the stratosphere is the third major layer, called the MESOSPHERE. It's a layer 20
miles high. The temperature falls lower and lower with a higher altitude. It is the coldest of all
the layers in the entire atmosphere. At the bottom of this layer it is 30° F (-1C). But at the
highest part of the layer it is -130° F (-90C). Near the top of the mesosphere it is almost black.
At these heights the thin air does not scatter as much of the sun's light as the lower, dense
atmosphere does. This scattering of light makes the sky appear blue to us on the ground. Even
during the day at this altitude the stars shine steadily.
Air making up the mesosphere is almost the same air making up the troposphere, except
that there is no water vapor and far less carbon dioxide. The top of the mesosphere is called the
MESOPAUSE. Above the mesopause the temperature does not fall but rise.

The Thermosphere (Ionosphere & Exosphere included)

 The fourth major layer and the highest is called the THERMOSPHERE. 99.99% of the
matter in the atmosphere is below the thermosphere. This is why the thermosphere is the
borderline of space from our atmosphere. At the lower level of the thermosphere the
temperature begins to rise. From a freezing -130° F (-90C) at the bottom, it turns to a burning
2000°F (1008 C) at the top at an altitude of about 20,000 miles high. In the thermosphere any
living creature exposed to the air would perish by being broiled to death on the side facing the
sun, or frozen to death on the side in the Earth's shadow.

The IONOPSHERE is the layer of air that makes up the lower part of the thermosphere.
The ionosphere is the layer of the atmosphere where radio waves can be bounced off of so that
the signal can be detected thousands of miles away. These signals are usually not able to be
detected because of the curve of the Earth, but since the radio signals are bounced off the
ionosphere, it actually acts as a satellite. The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) and the Southern
Lights (Aurora Australis) also occur in the ionosphere section of the thermosphere.

The EXOSPHERE is the upper part of the thermosphere. The exosphere is the very
highest part of the thermosphere and is SOMETIMES CONSIDERED ITS OWN LAYER. Here
we’ll just consider it a part of the thermosphere. The atmosphere in the exosphere merges into
space in the extremely thin air. Air atoms and molecules are constantly escaping to space from
the exosphere. In this region of the atmosphere, hydrogen and helium are the prime
components and are only present at extremely low densities. This is the area where many
satellites orbit the Earth.

Mankind’s Influence
During the last 200 years, mankind has begun to significantly alter the composition of the
atmosphere through pollution. Although air is still made up mostly of oxygen and nitrogen,
some of the levels of trace gases have been increasing, in particular the concentrations of
greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, etc.), which may be causing global warming.
Some air pollutants now present in the atmosphere are completely new, such as the CFCs
(chlorofluorocarbons), which are solely man-made.

Despite their relative scarcity, the so-called greenhouse gases play an important role in
the regulation of the Earth's climate. The natural greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide and water vapor. Although ozone is also a greenhouse gas it is more
commonly associated with the ozone hole and ozone depletion. By trapping heat trying to
escape from the surface of the Earth to space, the greenhouse gases warm the atmosphere.
Consequently the Earth surface is 33°C warmer than it would be without an atmosphere. This
heating process is called the natural greenhouse effect.

With an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases, the Earth’s average temperature
could rise several degrees, which could be cataclysmic to life on this planet. Why?