Earth's Atmosphere
Created | Updated Jan 26, 2006
The atmosphere is Earth's bouncer. Anything too dull won't stand a Muppet's chance in hell.
Although the four main layers of the atmosphere are made of the same thing, air, they are surprisingly different. Air is actually the term for the matter occupying the atmosphere: about 79% nitrogen, 20% oxygen, and 1%...everything else. Originally, the earth's atmosphere had an extremely small amount of oxygen; the whole thing was made up of carbon dioxide and water vapor, leftovers of Earth's violent infancy. Eventually, the most primative forms of plants formed, taking in the carbon dioxide and water vapor, spewing out oxygen, and swarming. Now, there is a barely significant amount of carbon dioxide, and the rest is as it is.
The lowest level of atmosphere is the troposphere, spanning from the very air we breath on the ground to about 10 miles up. This is where ALL weather occurs, according to the elevation of the air current.
The next one up is the stratosphere, 10 miles up through 30 miles above the earth's surface. The ever-so-fragile ozone layer resides here. Why is everyone always talking about the ozone layer? The sun's UV (ultraviolet) radiation , the exact thing that the unstable triple-oxygen molecules in the ozone layer blocks, would cook us like french fries faster than you can say "Supersize me".
Next is the mesosphere. This is the coldest layer in the atmosphere, stretching from 30 to 50 miles above the surface, and reaching about
-75 degrees near the top.
The last major layer, and the largest layer, is the thermosphere. Here, air pressure is so low that the air molecules take three miles to reach another to bounce off of. The increadible speeds of the molecules cause the air to actually get hotter the higher altitude and lower air pressure. The thermosphere spans from 50 miles to a whopping 300 miles above earth's surface. Past that, in the exosphere, air actually drifts off into space with such little gravitational force upon it.
Although the four main layers of the atmosphere are made of the same thing, air, they are surprisingly different. Air is actually the term for the matter occupying the atmosphere: about 79% nitrogen, 20% oxygen, and 1%...everything else. Originally, the earth's atmosphere had an extremely small amount of oxygen; the whole thing was made up of carbon dioxide and water vapor, leftovers of Earth's violent infancy. Eventually, the most primative forms of plants formed, taking in the carbon dioxide and water vapor, spewing out oxygen, and swarming. Now, there is a barely significant amount of carbon dioxide, and the rest is as it is.
The lowest level of atmosphere is the troposphere, spanning from the very air we breath on the ground to about 10 miles up. This is where ALL weather occurs, according to the elevation of the air current.
The next one up is the stratosphere, 10 miles up through 30 miles above the earth's surface. The ever-so-fragile ozone layer resides here. Why is everyone always talking about the ozone layer? The sun's UV (ultraviolet) radiation , the exact thing that the unstable triple-oxygen molecules in the ozone layer blocks, would cook us like french fries faster than you can say "Supersize me".
Next is the mesosphere. This is the coldest layer in the atmosphere, stretching from 30 to 50 miles above the surface, and reaching about
-75 degrees near the top.
The last major layer, and the largest layer, is the thermosphere. Here, air pressure is so low that the air molecules take three miles to reach another to bounce off of. The increadible speeds of the molecules cause the air to actually get hotter the higher altitude and lower air pressure. The thermosphere spans from 50 miles to a whopping 300 miles above earth's surface. Past that, in the exosphere, air actually drifts off into space with such little gravitational force upon it.
