troposphere

The troposphere is heated from the ground, so temperature decreases with altitude. Because warm air rises and cool air sinks, the troposphere is unstable. In the stratosphere, temperature increases with altitude. The stratosphere contains the ozone layer, which protects the planet from the Sun’s harmful UV radiation.

thermosphere

Layers of the atmosphere

• The Troposphere. This is the lowest part of the atmosphere – the part we live in.
• The Stratosphere. This extends upwards from the tropopause to about 50 km.
• The Mesosphere. The region above the stratosphere is called the mesosphere.
• The Thermosphere and Ionosphere.
• The Exosphere.
• The Magnetosphere.

Stratosphere

Troposphere. At the bottom of the atmosphere, where most of the life on the surface exists, is the troposphere. The troposphere is the only atmospheric layer that can support life. The higher layers have filtered out the harmful radiation, and there are large amounts of water vapor.

The Troposphere: Beginning at the surface of Earth, the troposphere extends to around seven miles up. This is the layer we live in and contains most of what we consider to be “the atmosphere”, including the air we breathe and nearly all of the weather and clouds we see.

Atmosphere is defined as the area of air and gas enveloping objects in space, like stars and planets, or the air around any location. An example of atmosphere is the ozone and other layers which make up the Earth’s sky as we see it. An example of atmosphere is the air and gases contained inside a greenhouse.

There was an atmosphere of public distrust. He couldn’t have asked for a better housekeeper, but the atmosphere between them had become strained. The wind in the upper atmosphere has extraordinary amounts of energy. The atmosphere in the room was tense, though apparently not hostile.

The atmosphere is the blanket of gases which surrounds Earth. It is held near the surface of the planet by Earth’s gravitational attraction. Without the atmosphere there could be no life on Earth.

Eventually (long after surface life had died), solar radiation would break atmospheric water into oxygen, which would react with carbon on the Earth to form carbon dioxide. The air would still be too thin to breathe. The lack of atmosphere would chill the Earth’s surface. Plants and land animals would die.

The Earth’s atmosphere protects and sustains the planet’s inhabitants by providing warmth and absorbing harmful solar rays. In addition to containing the oxygen and carbon dioxide, which living things need to survive, the atmosphere traps the sun’s energy and wards off many of the dangers of space.