It is the coldest place on Earth and has an average temperature around −85 °C (−120 °F; 190 K).[21][22]. It is divided into five layers. The air here is extremely thin, and the conditions here are more similar to the ones we find when we leave the Earth’s atmosphere entirely. Compared to the Earth, the moon is about 1/4th the size. The large-scale structure of the atmospheric circulation varies from year to year, but the basic structure remains fairly constant because it is determined by Earth's rotation rate and the difference in solar radiation between the equator and poles. So it is a very thin skin surrounding our planet. Two main processes govern changes in the atmosphere: Plants using carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releasing oxygen, and then plants using some oxygen at night by the process of photorespiration with the remainder of the oxygen being used to breakdown adjacent organic material. Temperature decreases with altitude starting at sea level, but variations in this trend begin above 11 km, where the temperature stabilizes through a large vertical distance through the rest of the troposphere. The findings rest on the widely held theory that Earth’s atmosphere was formed by gases released from volcanic activity on its surface. In other words, our environment is here due to the fact that of gravity. The air is a bit thinner, so there is not much resistance, which makes the planes fly faster. At sea level on Earth, we breathe in an atmosphere where each cubic centimeter contains 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 molecules; by comparison the lunar atmosphere has less than 1,000,000 molecules in the same volume. Within the five principal layers above, that are largely determined by temperature, several secondary layers may be distinguished by other properties: The average temperature of the atmosphere at Earth's surface is 14 °C (57 °F; 287 K)[29] or 15 °C (59 °F; 288 K),[30] depending on the reference.[31][32][33]. The atmosphere, as we know it, is a protective layer of gases that envelop the Earth. By Antonia Čirjak on May 1 2020 in Geography. The first atmosphere consisted of gases in the solar nebula, primarily hydrogen. The Earth has an atmosphere rich in Nitrogen and Oxygen but on the moon the surface is directly exposed to outer space. High above the planet, the atmosphere becomes thinner until it gradually reaches space. Saturn's magnetosphere is produced by the motion of the super-compressed … Today's atmosphere contains 21% oxygen, which is great enough for this rapid development of animals.[48]. 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. There are clear boundaries here between surface and atmosphere. View Answer Life on Earth consumes about 0.47 \times 10^{16} mol of O_2 per year. This promotes vertical mixing (hence, the origin of its name in the Greek word τρόπος, tropos, meaning "turn"). The stratosphere is the highest layer that can be accessed by jet-powered aircraft. phere (ăt′mə-sfîr′) n. 1. If the light does not interact with the atmosphere, it is called direct radiation and is what you see if you were to look directly at the Sun. This is also why it becomes colder at night at higher elevations. This variation can be approximately modeled using the barometric formula. That is why climbing high mountain peaks is so challenging! For example, on clear nights Earth's surface cools down faster than on cloudy nights. (D) Water vapor is about 0.25% by mass over full atmosphere When we talk about “atmosphere”, we usually imagine that of our Earth, where below it is a nice, solid surface. Why Does Earth Have An Atmosphere Live Science. Earth’s atmosphere is only 1/1,200,000 the mass of Earth itself. Ahrens, C. Donald. In essence, the higher you go, the colder it gets. 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. It contains the ozone layer, which is the part of Earth's atmosphere that contains relatively high concentrations of that gas. This layer is completely cloudless and free of water vapor. Still another region of increasing temperature with altitude occurs at very high altitudes, in the aptly-named thermosphere above 90 km. … A more likely scenario is atmospheric loss due to a massive meteor impact. Yes, the earth does have an atmosphere. Earth's atmosphere backlit by the Sun in an eclipse observed from deep space onboard Apollo 12 in 1969. Before this time, any oxygen produced by photosynthesis was consumed by oxidation of reduced materials, notably iron. 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. We humans on Earth are very lucky, because we have an atmosphere that is about 300 miles thick. [43] How Earth at that time maintained a climate warm enough for liquid water and life, if the early Sun put out 30% lower solar radiance than today, is a puzzle known as the "faint young Sun paradox". What created the atmosphere and why don’t other planets have one? (A) volume fraction is equal to mole fraction for ideal gas only,     also see volume (thermodynamics) The International Space Station orbits in this layer, between. The stratosphere is the second-lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere. Earth also emits radiation back into space, but at longer wavelengths that we cannot see. Possibly a massive coronal ejection, or solar storm, could burn off the atmosphere. Our atmosphere contains the gasses we breath, and the atmosphere protects us from the harsh radiation and warmth coming from the Sun.However, some planets do not have … https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atmosphere_of_Earth&oldid=990682178, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from February 2016, Articles needing additional references from October 2013, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Exosphere: 700 to 10,000 km (440 to 6,200 miles), Thermosphere: 80 to 700 km (50 to 440 miles), Stratosphere: 12 to 50 km (7 to 31 miles). [10] The study of historic atmosphere is called paleoclimatology. Scientists from NAI ’s New York Center for Astrobiology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have used the oldest minerals on Earth to reconstruct the atmospheric conditions present on Earth very soon after its birth. In summary, the mass of Earth's atmosphere is distributed approximately as follows:[36]. Large impacts have occurred several times on the inner planets, including Earth. Various industrial pollutants also may be present as gases or aerosols, such as chlorine (elemental or in compounds), fluorine compounds and elemental mercury vapor. It contains roughly 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen 0.97% argon and … These fluctuations in oxygenation were likely driven by the Lomagundi carbon isotope excursion.[44]. You have guessed it, high temperatures are the name of the game here. Large impacts have occurred several times on the inner planets, including Earth. This is also why sunsets are red. The Earth's atmosphere protects and sustains the planet's inhabitants by providing warmth and absorbing harmful solar rays. A more likely scenario is atmospheric loss due to a massive meteor impact. Earth’s atmosphere has six layers: the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere, the thermosphere, the ionosphere, and the exosphere. The ozone layer, the one that protects us from radiation that comes from the Sun and outer space, is found in the stratosphere. Atmospheric density decreases as the altitude increases. Temperatures drop with increasing altitude to the mesopause that marks the top of this middle layer of the atmosphere. Earth’s environment is huge, up until now reaching that it even impacts the International Spaceport station’s path. the upper limit of the atmosphere). In short, our atmosphere is here because of gravity. This is why the sky looks blue; you are seeing scattered blue light. Interactive global map of current atmospheric and ocean surface conditions. 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