Lesson 12.

The Atmosphere
The brightness of the sky and
the clouds covering it may be
some of the things that you
may observe as different.
How are those things related
to the weather? What are
the factors affecting the
weather?
 Learning Objectives

At the end of this lesson, the learner should be able to

do the following:

● Define atmosphere.
● Identify the different layers of the atmosphere.
● Describe the features of each layer of the
atmosphere.
● Discuss the role of the atmosphere in sustaining life
on Earth.
 Learn about It

The Atmosphere
● It is the envelope of gas
that surrounds Earth.

● It is held together by
Earth’s gravity.

● It makes Earth “livable” by

regulating solar energy Aurora borealis, as viewed from the
which drives all life outer space, is an effect of the
processes on Earth. interaction of our atmosphere with the
solar flares.
 Learn about It

The Atmosphere
● Meteorology is the branch
of Earth Science which deals
with the study of the
atmosphere and its
corresponding weather
patterns.

● People who study the PAGASA is the Philippine agency that

atmosphere are called deals with climate and weather.
meteorologists.
 Learn about It

Roles of The Atmosphere on Earth

1. Animals breathe in oxygen
through respiration. Plants
use carbon dioxide through
photosynthesis.

2. The nitrogen and oxygen

gases make it possible for
energy to move such as
sound. Life on Earth would be impossible
without the atmosphere.
 Learn about It

Roles of The Atmosphere on Earth

3. The atmosphere shields
Earth from the harmful
effects of ultraviolet
radiation (UV) emitted by
Sun.

4. The atmosphere keeps the

temperature of Earth at a
suitable range through The ozone layer protects us from
greenhouse effect. Sun’s UV rays.
 Learn about It

The Composition of the Atmosphere

● Earth’s atmosphere is
mostly made up of air.

○ nitrogen (78%)
○ oxygen (21%)
○ water vapor, carbon
dioxide, ozone, argon,
neon, helium, hydrogen,
dust particles, and Composition of Earth’s atmosphere
chlorofluorocarbons (1%)
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Atmosphere is divided into
layers based on altitude or
the height above sea level.

○ Troposphere
○ Stratosphere
○ Mesosphere
○ Thermosphere
○ Exosphere Layers of the atmosphere
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Temperature gradient is
the changing temperature
in the layers of the
atmosphere.

● As one increases altitude

from one layer to the other,
temperature changes
across the layers.
Temperature changes with height
 Learn about It
Layers of the Atmosphere
● Troposphere

○ It is the layer closest to

the surface of Earth.

○ Because of gravity’s pull,

about 75 % of the gases
in the atmosphere can be
found in this layer.
Layers of the atmosphere from
troposphere to mesosphere
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Troposphere

○ As altitude increases, the

temperature in the
troposphere decreases.

○ All weather changes and

patterns happen in this
layer.
Layers of the atmosphere from
troposphere to mesosphere
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Tropopause

○ Tropopause is the
boundary that separates
troposphere from the
next layer, which is the
stratosphere.

Layers of the atmosphere from

troposphere to mesosphere
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Stratosphere

○ It is the second layer of

the atmosphere.

○ Most volcanic dust

accumulates in this
layer.
The stratosphere experiences
less turbulence.
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Stratosphere

○ The ozone layer, a special

region which protects
Earth from the harmful
sun rays, is found in this
layer.

○ Ozone is a form of oxygen

which absorbs UV rays Ozone hole
from Sun.
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Stratosphere

○ There is less turbulence

in this layer, so airplanes
fly here instead of the
troposphere as it is
unstable.

○ Turbulence is the sudden

or violent movement of Layers of the atmosphere from
air. troposphere to mesosphere
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Stratosphere

○ Stratopause is the
boundary that separates
stratosphere from
mesosphere.

○ Airplanes also do reach

the stratosphere.
Layers of the atmosphere from
troposphere to mesosphere
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Mesosphere

○ It has a thin layer of air

enough to decelerate
meteors entering Earth.

○ The thin air layer adds

friction to meteoroids
producing the burning
Layers of the atmosphere from
tail of shooting stars. troposphere to mesosphere
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Mesosphere

○ It has a thin layer of air

enough to decelerate
meteors entering Earth.

○ The thin air layer adds

friction to meteoroids
producing the burning
A meteor with its burning tail
tail of shooting stars.
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Mesosphere

○ Mesopause separates
mesosphere from
thermosphere.

Layers of the atmosphere from

troposphere to mesosphere
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Thermosphere

○ It is the biggest
atmospheric layer.

○ It has thinner layer of gas

that absorbs solar energy
with shorter
wavelengths.
The thermosphere
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Thermosphere

○ The temperature can go

beyond 1 000 ℃, but is
relatively cold because of
few gas molecules.

The thermosphere
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Thermosphere

○ Ionosphere, a layer of
charged gas particles in
thermosphere, bounces
off radio waves from
different parts of the
world.
Layers of the atmosphere
thermosphere to exosphere
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Thermosphere

○ Aurora is a display of
glows in the night sky in
polar areas which occurs
when charged particles
emitted during a solar flare
penetrate Earth's magnetic
shield and collide with
molecules in ionosphere. Aurora borealis (northern lights)
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Thermosphere

○ Aurora in the Northern

Hemisphere is called
aurora borealis while
the aurora in the
Southern Hemisphere
is called aurora
australis.
Aurora borealis (northern lights)
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Thermosphere
○ Karman line is found
here, which is an invisible
marker which serves as
the boundary between
Earth’s atmosphere and
outer space.

○ It is named after
Theodore von Kármán
Location of the Karman line
(1881–1963).
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Thermosphere

○ It is where Low-Earth
orbit (LEO) satellites are
found.

○ LEO is a satellite orbit

characterized by its
altitude, about 160 to 2000
km above Earth’s surface. Objects found in the thermosphere
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Thermosphere

○ The International Space

Station (ISS) is found to be
in this orbit.

○ DIWATA-1, Ph’s’ first

microsatellite, is a LEO
satellite.
ISS and DIWATA-1
 Learn about It

Layers of the Atmosphere

● Exosphere
○ It is the outermost layer.

○ It is more than 700 km to

10 000 km from Earth’s
surface with no clear
boundary.

○ It continues into the outer Objects found in the exosphere

space.
 Key Points

● Earth is surrounded by a thick blanket of air called the

atmosphere which consists of gases that living things need.

● Weather is the condition of the atmosphere at a given place

and time. It is usually described as sunny or cloudy, hot or cold,
dry or rainy, and sometimes stormy.

● The different factors affecting the weather are temperature,

pressure, wind, humidity, cloud cover, and precipitation.
 Key Points

● The difference in temperature and pressure in different areas

creates wind. Wind is defined as moving air.

● The weight of air that pushes down on Earth’s surface is called

air pressure. Air pressure depends on the number of gas
particles that are clustered or spread out in an area.

● The amount of water vapor in the air is described as humidity.

 Key Points

● Precipitation is any form of water that changes from clouds

and falls. It can be in the form of rain, snow, hail, or sleet.

● A weather pattern refers to the changes in the weather

condition in a specific area during a given period of time.
Lesson 12.2

Effects of Human Activities

on the Atmosphere
 There are various
substances that do harm to
the environment. What do
you think are the specific
effects of human
activities on Earth’s
atmosphere?
 Learning Objectives

At the end of this lesson, the learner should be able to

do the following:

● Identify harmful changes in Earth’s atmosphere.

● Explain how some human activities contribute to the
harmful changes in Earth’s atmosphere.
● Identify ways and activities on how to reduce the
harmful effects of human activities on the atmosphere.
 Learn about It

Effects of Human Activities on the Atmosphere

● The composition of Earth’s
atmosphere change
continuously.

● Causes of changes:
○ natural factors
○ human activities

● Atmospheric changes result Climate Change Performance

in global climate change. Index 2021
 Learn about It

Effects of Human Activities on the Atmosphere

● Human activities that cause
harmful effects on the
atmosphere:

○ photochemical smog
○ thermal inversion
○ acid deposition
○ ozone depletion Polar bears have become
symbols of increasing global
warming due to the melting of
ice caps.
 Learn about It

Effects of Human Activities on the Atmosphere

● Photochemical smog

○ It is the result of the reactions

between smoke emissions
and sunlight.

○ It is common in dry and sunny

areas where the peak is at
midday of summer. Photochemical smog over Delhi,
India
 Learn about It

Effects of Human Activities on the Atmosphere

● Photochemical smog

○ Sources:
■ automobiles
■ oil refineries
■ industries

○ The main chemicals involved

are nitrogen oxides and Vehicles are the major
hydrocarbons forming ozone. source of smog.
 Learn about It

Effects of Human Activities on the Atmosphere

● Photochemical smog

○ Ozone is harmful if suspended

on the surface.

○ Effects:
■ eye irritation/poor visibility
■ respiratory problems
■ decrease in crop yields Cough and asthma are some of
■ materials becoming brittle the effects of smog.
 Learn about It

Effects of Human Activities on the Atmosphere

● Thermal inversion

○ It happens when a layer of warm air descends and form

an inversion layer.

○ The inversion layer and the cold air from the bodies of
water trap smog, which increases air pollution.
 Learn about It

Effects of Human Activities on the Atmosphere

● Thermal inversion

○ This is typical in cities

with many tall
buildings because the
buildings prevent the
air from circulating.

How tall buildings cause thermal inversion

 Learn about It

Effects of Human Activities on the Atmosphere

● Acid Deposition

○ It refers to acid
precipitation into
Earth’s surface.

○ It is commonly known
as acid rain.
Structures can corrode due
wet or dry deposition.
 Learn about It

Effects of Human Activities on the Atmosphere

● Acid Deposition

○ Nitrogen oxides
and sulfur oxides
released in the air
are produced from
the burning of fossil
fuels and
manufacturing
industries. Acid deposition
 Learn about It

Effects of Human Activities on the Atmosphere

● Ozone depletion

○ It is the destruction
of the ozone layer.

○ It is one of the major

consequences of
human activities in
the atmosphere. The hole in the ozone layer
 Learn about It

Effects of Human Activities on the Atmosphere

● Ozone depletion

○ Effects:
■ Harmful UV rays may
penetrate Earth’s surface.

■ Prolonged exposure to UV
rays may cause skin
cancer, impaired immune
system, and cataracts. Sunburn due to excessive sun
exposure
 Learn about It

Ways and Activities to Reduce the Harmful

Effects of Human Activities on the Atmosphere
Some of the practices that you can do to help the atmosphere
and the environment include the following:
● conserving electricity by turning off the lights when not in
use
● using public transportation instead of private vehicles can
help reduce carbon dioxide emission
● planting trees in vacant lots
● promoting alternative renewable energy, such as solar
power, wind power, and geothermal power
 Key Points

● Different human activities affect the atmosphere. Such

activities greatly contribute to the production of
greenhouse gases that worsen greenhouse effect and
damage the atmosphere.

● Photochemical smog, thermal inversion, acid

deposition, and ozone depletion are some harmful
atmospheric consequences of human activities.
 Check Your Understanding
In the given illustration below, label the layers of the atmosphere.