This... Stratosphere. The air in this layer is absolutely not friendly for us, as it would be impossible to breathe in the mesosphere because of too low oxygen levels. These fluctuations in oxygenation were likely driven by the Lomagundi carbon isotope excursion.[44]. When light passes through Earth's atmosphere, photons interact with it through scattering. According to the American National Center for Atmospheric Research, "The total mean mass of the atmosphere is 5.1480×1018 kg with an annual range due to water vapor of 1.2 or 1.5×1015 kg, depending on whether surface pressure or water vapor data are used; somewhat smaller than the previous estimate. Several layers can be distinguished in the atmosphere, based on characteristics such as temperature and composition. This layer is completely cloudless and free of water vapor. In the late Archean Eon an oxygen-containing atmosphere began to develop, apparently produced by photosynthesizing cyanobacteria (see Great Oxygenation Event), which have been found as stromatolite fossils from 2.7 billion years ago. The actual change of temperature with height varies from day to day, depending on the weather.The troposphere contains about 75% of all of the air in the atmosphere, and almost all of th… Atmospheric circulation is the large-scale movement of air through the troposphere, and the means (with ocean circulation) by which heat is distributed around Earth. The atmosphere becomes very thin in this layer. The surface-based homosphere includes the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and the lowest part of the thermosphere, where the chemical composition of the atmosphere does not depend on molecular weight because the gases are mixed by turbulence. Ancient sediments in the Gabon dating from between about 2.15 and 2.08 billion years ago provide a record of Earth's dynamic oxygenation evolution. As the name suggests, we are halfway up our atmosphere layers when we reach this part. The homosphere and heterosphere are defined by whether the atmospheric gases are well mixed. The average molecular weight of dry air, which can be used to calculate densities or to convert between mole fraction and mass fraction, is about 28.946[14] or 28.96[15] g/mol. Thermosphere - The thermosphere is next and the air is very thin here. [50], On October 19, 2015, NASA started a website containing daily images of the full sunlit side of Earth on http://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/. The atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gas above the crust. The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, commonly known as air, retained by Earth's gravity, surrounding the planet Earth and forming its planetary atmosphere. This jacket of gases does a lot for us. [26] The troposphere is denser than all its overlying atmospheric layers because a larger atmospheric weight sits on top of the troposphere and causes it to be most severely compressed. Free oxygen did not exist in the atmosphere until about 2.4 billion years ago during the Great Oxygenation Event and its appearance is indicated by the end of the banded iron formations. Just below the mesopause, the air is so cold that even the very scarce water vapor at this altitude can be sublimated into polar-mesospheric noctilucent clouds. The stratosphere extends from the top of the troposphere to... Mesosphere. This is why the sky looks blue; you are seeing scattered blue light. Air also contains a variable amount of water vapor, on average around 1% at sea level, and 0.4% over the entire atmosphere. It extends from Earth's surface to an average height of about 12 km (7.5 mi; 39,000 ft), although this altitude varies from about 9 km (5.6 mi; 30,000 ft) at the geographic poles to 17 km (11 mi; 56,000 ft) at the Equator,[19] with some variation due to weather. The average atmospheric pressure at sea level is defined by the International Standard Atmosphere as 101325 pascals (760.00 Torr; 14.6959 psi; 760.00 mmHg). [17] From highest to lowest, the five main layers are: The exosphere is the outermost layer of Earth's atmosphere (i.e. It is the lowest layer of the earth atmosphere. Indirect radiation is light that has been scattered in the atmosphere. Because of its temperature, the atmosphere emits infrared radiation. (C) The concentration of CO2 has been increasing in recent decades This part of the atmosphere is … The second layer of the Earth’s atmosphere, stratosphere extends upwards from the tropopause to about 50 km. That is why climbing high mountain peaks is so challenging! The influence of life has to be taken into account rather soon in the history of the atmosphere, because hints of early life-forms appear as early as 3.5 billion years ago. The geomagnetic storms cause displays of aurora across the atmosphere. Different molecules absorb different wavelengths of radiation. The atmosphere of Earth is divided into several different layers. Exosphere is the upper limit of the atmosphere. On average, the temperature gradient of the troposphere is 6.5°C per 1,000 m (3.6°F per 1,000 ft.) of altitude. Atmosphere, the gas and aerosol envelope that extends from the ocean, land, and ice-covered surface of a planet outward into space. water vapor. The Earth is enveloped by an atmosphere that is composed of five layers, namely troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and ionosphere. This is the lowest part of the atmosphere - the part we live in. The atmospheric pressure at the top of the stratosphere is roughly 1/1000 the pressure at sea level. From the ground toward the sky, the layers are the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere. Earth's atmosphere backlit by the Sun in an eclipse observed from deep space onboard Apollo 12 in 1969. Emission is the opposite of absorption, it is when an object emits radiation. As another example, due to a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering, shorter (blue) wavelengths scatter more easily than longer (red) wavelengths. Of around 120 km ( 75 mi ). [ 42 ] is that the anthropogenic greenhouse gases accumulating. Or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to organisms aviation activity takes place in the lowest layer the! The opposite of absorption, it is where atoms and molecules are far. As 1.27×1016 kg and the stratosphere is the first atmosphere consisted of gases in the.! 3.6°F per 1,000 ft. ) of altitude, snow, rain vacuum of outer space are halfway up our layers! Oxidizes and hence reduces the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere p… thermosphere... 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