THE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE

I. THE NEED FOR AN ATMOSPHERE

 blocks out dangerous ultra violet light
 contains the gasses that living organisms need
 acts as a blanket to keep us warm

II. THE COMPOSITION OF THE ATMOSPHERE

 mixture of gases
o 78 percent nitrogen,
o 21 percent oxygen,
o 1 percent argon.
o trace gases (carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide, ozone
o water vapor, and a number of other trace gases,

III. Five layers- from lowest in altitude to highest (Try Seeing Me Throw Eggs)

LOWER ATMOSPHERE
A. Troposphere
 lowest layer- extends 4-12 miles from earth
 holds about 75% of atmosphere’s gasses
 weather occurs here, planes fly here
 air heated by ground and rises (ground heats up faster than air)
 as altitude increases, air becomes thinner & temperature drops
o goes from 62°F (17°C) to -60°F (-51°C)

********************************TROPOPOSE******************************
**
(boundary between troposphere & stratosphere)

MIDDLE ATMOSPHERE

B. Stratosphere (strato means layers)

 extends from the troposphere up to 31 (51 km) miles above the Earth's
surface. Commercial jet airliners reach cruising altitude at the bottom
o flying above the weather =smoother flight.
 Holds 19 percent of the atmosphere's gases but little water vapor
 weather balloons collect data in this layer
 Contains the ozone layer
o consists of numerous ozone molecules
 o Ozone molecules absorb ultraviolet rays which:
 causes temp to increase in upper stratosphere
 prevents UV rays from killing life on earth

***************************************STRATOPAUSE*********************
*******************
boundary between the stratosphere and the mesosphere
C. Mesosphere
 extends from the stratopause to about 53 miles (85 km) above the earth
 gases, including the oxygen molecules become thinner and thinner with
height
o temp decreases from about5°F (-15°C) to as low as -184°F (-120°C)
 thick gases slow down meteorites (shooting stars)

***********************************MESOPAUSE**************************
***********
boundary between the exosphere and the mesosphere

UPPER ATMOSPHERE
D. Thermosphere
 gases thinner than in mesosphere
 absorbs higher energy ultraviolet and x-ray radiation from sun is absorbed
o temperature increases with height
o can reach as high as 3,600°F (2000°C) near the top of this layer but
air is so thin it would feel cold
 space shuttle travels in this layer while orbiting the earth.

E. EXOSPHERE
 outermost layer of the atmosphere
 extends from the thermopause (top edge of the thermosphere) to 6200 miles
(10,000 km) above the earth
 atoms and molecules escape into space and satellites orbit the earth