Atmosphere

Topic 5
•  The atmosphere plays an important
role in all short-termed phenomena,
because it exhibits important features
as the ozone layer depletion, the climate
change and the greenhouse effect,
topics that will be addressed later in the
ecology topics.
 5.1 The Layers of the
Atmosphere
• The atmosphere is composed of gases,
mainly nitrogen (78%), and oxygen
(21%). Other gases found in the
atmosphere and that make up
approximately 0.99% of it are argon,
helium, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and
water vapor. This gas composition
usually remains fixed all around the
world, but specific conditions may exist
• Some of the atmosphere’s physical properties are
(Sampieri, 2006):
1. Mobility
Air has the ability to flow, especially on the layer closest to
the surface. It moves horizontally, like the wind, or
vertically because of the convective currents.
2. Color
Air has no color, is transparent, we are submerged under
a deep “ocean of gases”. The blue color of the
troposphere, the inner layer of the atmosphere, is caused
because the nitrogen and oxygen divert the blue color
from the solar light, composed of several colors (red,
yellow, orange, green, blue, and violet).
3. Compressibility
It is the physical property of a gas to decrease
its volume when pressure rises.
4. Expansibility
It is the opposite of compressibility that is the
gas ability to expand when the pressure
decreases.
5. Diathermancy
It is the atmosphere’s property by which sun
rays cross and heat directly the Earth’s
surface. That is why the atmosphere’s
superior layers are cold, because the sun rays
cross them and heat directly the lithosphere
and the hydrosphere
a. Troposphere: It is the most inferior and dense layer, where almost
all atmospheric phenomena occur: rains, hurricanes, winds, etc. It is
the tiniest layer, since it only has a thickness of 11 km in the poles
and 17 km in the equator (an average of 12 km). Because of the
compressibility of the atmospheric gases, it has about 80% of the
atmospheric gas.
b. Stratosphere: it is separated from the troposphere by a thin layer,
called the tropopause (layer that marks the troposphere’s superior
limit above which the temperature remains constant before starting
to rise again). The stratosphere starts 11 to 17 km above the earth
and reaches a height of 50 km. At a height of 25 km, the ozone
layer is located (O3). It protects the Earth’s surface against the Sun’s
ultraviolet radiation, filtering it and reducing its intensity. Nowadays
is very common to fly planes at this height, because there are no
convective movements.
a. Mesosphere: it is the layer that extends from a height of 50 to
80 km approximately. It reaches a temperature of -130°C and it
has almost no density. In this layer, meteorites burn and
luminescent nocturnal clouds can be seen.
b. Ionosphere or Thermosphere: it extends from 80 to 600 km
above the surface. Its temperature can reach 1000°C, but the gas
atoms are so separated that you will not actually feel this
temperature. X-rays, cosmic rays, and ultraviolet rays ionize this
layer intensely. Auroras form in the thermosphere, and it is also
important for the radio communications, since radio waves are
reflected there.
c. Exosphere: it extends from a height of 600 km to an imprecise
height of 6,000 km approximately. This layer is composed mainly
of hydrogen and helium, and is where the artificial satellites orbit
the planet
• 5.2 The Climate
• In the atmosphere, one of the most important phenomena for
the life on this planet takes place: climate.
• To comprehend this phenomenon, it is necessary to distinguish
between the terms weather and climate because, although one
may think that they are the same, they are very different things.
Weather makes reference to the momentary meteorological
conditions that exist in a determined place (Valdés 2012),
whereas climate is the set of meteorological phenomena that
characterize a place (Escobar, 2007).
• Meteorology is the branch of Geography that studies the
physical laws related to the climatic conditions by analyzing the
variables involved, allowing you to comprehend how climate
works. The meteorological phenomena are those changes that
atmosphere experiments like temperature, wind, humidity, and
rain.
• Weather has several elements, which are:
• Weather has several elements, which are:
• Precipitation: it refers to the quantity of water that falls from
the atmosphere, either liquid or solid. It is expressed in milliliters
per square meter. Its measuring instrument is the rain gauge
(pluviometer).
• Temperature: it is the degree of heat in the air at a given
moment and place. It is expressed in degrees, either Celsius (°C)
or Fahrenheit (°F). Other scale used is the absolute scale (Kelvin,
K). The instrument to measure the temperature is the
thermometer.
• Atmospheric pressure: it is the weight that air has on a given
place. It is expressed in millibars (mbar). The instrument used to
measure the atmospheric pressure is the barometer.
• Wind: it is the air movement caused by a difference in pressure.
It is expressed in kilometers per hour (km/h), indicating intensity
and direction. The instrument to determine wind’s direction is
the vane, whereas for measuring its velocity, the anemometer.
21% of oxigen in the first 100 kms of the atmosphere.
• There are factors that affect the atmospheric
temperature (climate), which are:
• Latitude: The temperature decreases as
the latitude increases, because sun rays only hit
directly the tropical region (the region located
between the Cancer and Capricorn tropics).
• Altitude: it affects the temperature because the air is
denser in low zones, thus, retains more heat.
• Distance from the sea: places near the seas have a
more stable temperature than those far from them,
because oceans act as temperature regulators.
• Seasons: summer is warmer than winter because of
the different Earth’s inclination; in summer, sunrays
hit earth more vertically. The day-night duration also
affects temperature
• Cloudiness: clouds reflect some heat
back into the space and lessen the
temperature below them. That’s why the
highest temperatures on Earth are not
found in the equatorial regions where
rain is present throughout the year, but
rather in hot deserts where it barely
rains.
• Humidity: another factor that affects
temperature is humidity, which is the
quantity of water vapor per cubic meter
of air. Humidity is measured with
• Meteorological risks

• The meteorological risks, according to

Salinas (2012), are the set of natural
phenomena that brings violent events
such as hurricanes; pluvial, fluvial and
lacustrine floods; frosts, droughts, hail,
tornadoes, snowstorms, etc. Because
these risks are usually associated with
water or precipitations, they are often
called hydro-meteorological risks.
• 5.3 The Climate Zones
• As you learned before, the planet is
divided into two hemispheres (northern
and southern).This can also help you
locate the planet’s climate zones. Earth
is divided into two cold zones, two
template zones and a warm zone.
• Temperate zones

Earth has two template zones, one in the

Northern Hemisphere and the other in
the Southern Hemisphere, between the
tropics and the polar circles. These zones
receive the solar rays obliquely and
present the four temperate seasons.
Vegetation in these zones is deciduous,
compared to the vegetation present in the
torrid zones, which is evergreen.
• Torrid zone
It is located in the Earth’s central
location, where the Equator crosses. In
these zones, solar rays hit vertically the
Earth’s surface, causing high
temperatures along all the year. Days
and nights have the same duration. Is
where most of the planet’s biodiversity
is found.
• Polar zones
They are located in the north and south poles.
They are bordered by the polar circles. The
sun can either remain over the horizon for the
full 24 hours a day, or remain under the
horizon for the whole days.
• These phenomena are called midnight sun
and polar night, respectively. Temperatures
can remain below the freezing point for long
periods of time. The vegetation is scarce in
these zones, and thus the animal life is also
less. Typical animal species of the cold zones
are the polar bears, the penguins and seals.
Köppen Climate Classification
The most widely used climate classification is the Köppen Climate
classification proposed by Vladimir Peter Köppen. It is based in two
variables: temperature and precipitation. From these variables, six main
climate groups are formed.