The Atmosphere
The Earths Protective Layer. This boundary between Earth and space, protects us from meteriods and high energy radiation, but also provides us with favorable conditions for life on Earth
How the Atmosphere helps us survive at Earth
- The Atmosphere is a protective layer made up of gas, which surrounds our planet and protects us from meteoroids, chuncks of space rock and space metal, and last but not least, high energy heat and radiation.
- The atmosphere has 76% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 0.93% Argon and 0.038% Carbon dioxide. Water Vapor and other gases exist in small amounts as well.
- But it also provides favorable conditions for life on Earth. It provides carbon dioxide for plants, which create oxygen. And oxygen helps us do everyday tasks.
Structure of the Atmosphere
The lowest layer is called the Troposphere. In this layer, almost all of the weather occurs. Clouds, which give us rain, is mostly created in this layer. This is because there are many dust particles in this layer, onto which water vapor sticks on and eventually create clouds. As you get higher in this layer, the air pressure and temperature get lower.
The next layer is the Statosphere. In this layer we hace the O-Zone layer, which is comprised a special type of oxygen that protects us from UV radiation from the sun by absorbing it. In this layer, unlike the Troposphere, the temperture rises with altitude.
The middle layer, which we called Mesosphere. This layer protects us by burning up meterors and rock fragments. This layer, like the Troposphere, gets lower the higher you go.
The next layer is the Thermosphere. In this layer, much of the UV and X-Ray radiation is absorbed here. Depending on how active the sun is, the Thermospheres size can vary. Also an amazing phenonmenon called a aurora happens at a section inside the Thermosphere, called the Ionosphere. Charged particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the thermosphere, exciting them. When this happens they emmit photons and we see them as beautiful auroras.