earth’s atmosphere! earth’s atmosphere!. what is an atmosphere? an atmosphere is the layer of...

Earth’s

Atmosphere!Earth’s

Atmosphere!

What is an atmosphere?

An atmosphere is the layer of gases that surround the planet.

Ours is as thin as Earth’s crust!

What gases is Earth’s atmosphere made of?

Surprisingly, more Nitrogen than Oxygen!Surprisingly, more Nitrogen than Oxygen!

The NitrogenNitrogen is actually just as important to us as Oxygen!

-There is Nitrogen in our bodies (CHON)

-Bacteria need NitrogenNitrogen to help break down our waste into plant food!

Carbon Dioxide

OxygenThe plants give off our Oxygen whichwe need to breathe...

Then we exhale Carbon Dioxide thatthe plants need to make food!

We think that in the time of dinosaursthere was not as much Oxygen...

Because Because OxygenOxygen is technically a is technically a corrosive gas!corrosive gas!

It is what turns apples brown and makes metal rust!

Some of our Oxygen is Ozone, whichin the upper atmosphere protects usfrom harmful UV rays...

But in our lower atmosphere, it is given off by lightning and trees and is a type of air pollution!

water vapor

There is also particulate pollution in our atmosphere such as smoke, dust, and chemicals...

And there is also trace amounts of water vapor (humidity).

Our atmosphere has different layers!Our atmosphere has different layers!

The lowest layer is the one we liveand breathe in: Troposphere

This is also the layer where weatheroccurs! (up to 19 km. above Earth)

(It is thicker at the equator and thin at the poles because of Earth’s rotation!)

The next layer is the Stratosphere,which goes up to 50 km. above Earth.

For every 1 km. higherinto the stratosphere, it gets 6.5º C colder!(this is why airplane windows feel cold)

This is where airplanes fly!

The upper stratosphere is where ourozone layerozone layer is!

The absorbed UV rays from the sun make the upper stratosphere warmer!

The middle layer of our atmosphereis the Mesosphere, which has very little gas and is really cold!

(-90º Celcius)

This layer burns up incoming objectssuch as meteors (shooting stars)!

About 80 km. above Earth is the start of the thermosphere, which has no definite end-- it just blends into space!

The thermosphere is HOT (1800º C)because it is directly hit with solarradiation (the heat of the sun)

The lower 3/4 of the thermosphere iscalled the Ionosphere (80 km. - 550 km.)

The ionosphere is electrically chargedand makes gases glow! (aurora borealis)

The upper 1/4 of the thermosphere is the Exosphere (over 550 km. above Earth)

This is where all our satellites orbit!

Troposphere

StratosphereMesosphere

Thermosphere

Ionosphere

ExosphereThe layers of

ouratmosphere!

Please Remember:

Exo = satellitesIono = electricThermo = hotMeso = protectingStrato = airplanesTropo = weather