English Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português 繁體中文 Bahasa Indonesia Tiếng Việt ภาษาไทย
All categories

2007-01-15 05:47:58 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Environment

9 answers

The atmosphere is primarily composed of Nitrogen (N2, 78%), Oxygen (O2, 21%), and Argon (Ar, 1%). A myriad of other very influential components are also present which include the water (H2O, 0 - 7%), "greenhouse" gases or Ozone (O, 0 - 0.01%), Carbon Dioxide (CO2, 0.01-0.1%),

2007-01-15 05:51:00 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5 0

The Troposphere
The troposphere is where all weather takes place; it is the region of rising and falling packets of air. The air pressure at the top of the troposphere is only 10% of that at sea level (0.1 atmospheres). There is a thin buffer zone between the troposphere and the next layer called the tropopause.
The Stratosphere and Ozone Layer
Above the troposphere is the stratosphere, where air flow is mostly horizontal. The thin ozone layer in the upper stratosphere has a high concentration of ozone, a particularly reactive form of oxygen. This layer is primarily responsible for absorbing the ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. The formation of this layer is a delicate matter, since only when oxygen is produced in the atmosphere can an ozone layer form and prevent an intense flux of ultraviolet radiation from reaching the surface, where it is quite hazardous to the evolution of life. There is considerable recent concern that manmade flourocarbon compounds may be depleting the ozone layer, with dire future consequences for life on the Earth.
The Mesosphere and Ionosphere
Above the stratosphere is the mesosphere and above that is the ionosphere (or thermosphere), where many atoms are ionized (have gained or lost electrons so they have a net electrical charge). The ionosphere is very thin, but it is where aurora take place, and is also responsible for absorbing the most energetic photons from the Sun, and for reflecting radio waves, thereby making long-distance radio communication possible.
The structure of the ionosphere is strongly influenced by the charged particle wind from the Sun (solar wind), which is in turn governed by the level of Solar activity. One measure of the structure of the ionosphere is the free electron density, which is an indicator of the degree of ionization. Here are electron density contour maps of the ionosphere for months in 1957 to the present. Compare these simulations of the variation by month of the ionosphere for the year 1990 (a period of high solar activity with many sunspots) and 1996 (a period of low solar activity with few sunspots):

2007-01-15 05:51:06 · answer #2 · answered by LoneStarLou 5 · 0 2

Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earth's gravity. It contains roughly 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of other gases, in addition to water vapor. 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 away into space. Three quarters of the atmosphere's mass is within 11 km of the planetary surface. In the United States, persons who travel above an altitude of 50.0 miles (80.5 km) are designated as astronauts. An altitude of 120 km (75 mi or 400,000 ft) marks the boundary where atmospheric effects become noticeable during re-entry. The Karman line, at 100 km (62 mi), is also frequently used as the boundary between atmosphere and space.

Temperature and the atmospheric layers
The temperature of the Earth's atmosphere varies with altitude; the mathematical relationship between temperature and altitude varies between the different atmospheric layers:

troposphere: From the Greek word "tropos" meaning to turn or mix. The troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere starting at the surface going up to between 7 km (4.4 mi) at the poles and 17 km (10.6 mi) at the equator with some variation due to weather factors. The troposphere has a great deal of vertical mixing due to solar heating at the surface. This heating warms air masses, which then rise to release latent heat as sensible heat that further uplifts the air mass. This process continues until all water vapor is removed. In the troposphere, on average, temperature decreases with height due to expansive cooling.
stratosphere: from that 7–17 km range to about 50 km, temperature increasing with height.
mesosphere: from about 50 km to the range of 80 km to 85 km, temperature decreasing with height.
thermosphere: from 80–85 km to 640+ km, temperature increasing with height.
exosphere: from 500-1000 km up to 10,000 km, free-moving particles that may migrate into and out of the magnetosphere or the solar wind.
The boundaries between these regions are named the tropopause, stratopause, mesopause, thermopause and exobase.

The average temperature of the atmosphere at the surface of earth is 14 °C.

2007-01-15 06:10:43 · answer #3 · answered by bharat s 3 · 2 0

atmosphere comprises of a thin layer of gas that surrounds Earth.

The Earth's atmosphere is divided into four regions of atmosphere classified by temperature.

Troposphere, Stratosphere,Mesosphere, Thirmosphere.

2007-01-15 05:59:52 · answer #4 · answered by bex 3 · 0 0

About 70% Nitrogen
20% Oxygen and the rest are trace gasses

2007-01-15 05:51:56 · answer #5 · answered by diogenese_97 5 · 3 1

Mostly nitrogen

2007-01-15 05:50:44 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3 0

air

2007-01-17 21:58:17 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

nature boy beat me to it

2016-05-24 07:03:07 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

At the moment,POLLUTION!!!

2007-01-15 05:57:23 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

fedest.com, questions and answers