(A) volume fraction is equal to mole fraction for ideal gas only,     also see volume (thermodynamics) If the ___ did not exist, Earth might be destroyed by chunks of rock from space. Earth also emits radiation back into space, but at longer wavelengths that we cannot see. The various layers of Earth's ionosphere, important to HF radio propagation, begin below 100 km and extend beyond 500 km. Air pollution is the introduction into the atmosphere of chemicals, particulate matter or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to organisms. Humans have also contributed to significant changes in atmospheric composition through air pollution, especially since industrialisation, leading to rapid environmental change such as ozone depletion and global warming. The Exosphere. This is why it is so difficult to explore this layer. In this way, Earth's atmosphere can be divided (called atmospheric stratification) into five main layers. [48] The following time span from 541 million years ago to the present day is the Phanerozoic Eon, during the earliest period of which, the Cambrian, oxygen-requiring metazoan life forms began to appear. The atmosphere is a mixture of different gases. This layer is mainly composed of extremely low densities of hydrogen, helium and several heavier molecules including nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide closer to the exobase. [21] Although the thermosphere has a high proportion of molecules with high energy, it would not feel hot to a human in direct contact, because its density is too low to conduct a significant amount of energy to or from the skin. "Air" redirects here. This makes the mesosphere an important line of defense for our planet, in a way. Subscript textInsert non-formatted text here== Calculatin… Active 4 years, 6 months ago. In May 2017, glints of light, seen as twinkling from an orbiting satellite a million miles away, were found to be reflected light from ice crystals in the atmosphere.[39][40]. If the entire mass of the atmosphere had a uniform density equal to sea level density (about 1.2 kg per m3) from sea level upwards, it would terminate abruptly at an altitude of 8.50 km (27,900 ft). The Martian atmosphere is primarily carbon dioxide with a much lower surface pressure than Earth's (about 0.6% of Earth), and Mars does not have an Earthlike hydrological cycle. The mesosphere is also the layer where most meteors burn up upon atmospheric entrance. In this part of the atmosphere the temperature gets colder as the distance above the earth increases, by about This point signifies a shift from a reducing atmosphere to an oxidizing atmosphere. The first atmosphere consisted of gases in the solar nebula, primarily hydrogen. However, polar stratospheric or nacreous clouds are occasionally seen in the lower part of this layer of the atmosphere where the air is coldest. The refractive index of air depends on temperature,[41] giving rise to refraction effects when the temperature gradient is large. These layers begin from the ground level of Earth and go all the way up into space. Because the Sun is close to the horizon, the Sun's rays pass through more atmosphere than normal to reach your eye. Several layers can be distinguished in the atmosphere, based on characteristics such as temperature and composition. Water vapor accounts for roughly 0.25% of the atmosphere by mass. Total atmospheric mass is 5.1480×1018 kg (1.135×1019 lb),[36] about 2.5% less than would be inferred from the average sea level pressure and Earth's area of 51007.2 megahectares, this portion being displaced by Earth's mountainous terrain. Below 100 km the composition of the atmosphere is relatively constant (20% molecular oxygen and 80% molecular hydrogen) so the mean molecular mass is constant. Everest, pressure drops to 265 millibars. Exosphere: from 500 – 1000 km (300 – 600 mi) up to 10,000 km (6,000 mi), free-moving particles that may migrate into and out of the magnetosphere or the solar wind. Systematic variations in the refractive index can lead to the bending of light rays over long optical paths. 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][16] g/mol. The height of the thermopause varies considerably due to changes in solar activity. Airplanes do not fly high enough to be able to reach it, and satellites orbit the planet at much higher altitudes. Atmosphere is the air surrounding the earth. Both the ___ get colder as altitude increases. These are the highest clouds in the atmosphere and may be visible to the naked eye if sunlight reflects off them about an hour or two after sunset or similarly before sunrise. [42], Outgassing from volcanism, supplemented by gases produced during the late heavy bombardment of Earth by huge asteroids, produced the next atmosphere, consisting largely of nitrogen plus carbon dioxide and inert gases. That's less than 30% of the pressure at sea level! The troposphere is bounded above by the tropopause, a boundary marked in most places by a temperature inversion (i.e. The air is one among the necessary conditions for the existence of life on this planet. If the Earth were the size of a basketball, a tightly held pillowcase would represent the thickness of the atmosphere. The temperature of the thermosphere gradually increases with height and can rise as high as 1500 °C (2700 °F), though the gas molecules are so far apart that its temperature in the usual sense is not very meaningful. The three major constituents of Earth's atmosphere are nitrogen, oxygen, and argon. 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 Earth’s atmosphere extends to almost 800 kilometers (about 500 miles). This is the reason why we know very little about the mesosphere. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atmosphere_of_Earth&oldid=1021272340, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, 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). 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. Lutgens, Frederick K. and Edward J. Tarbuck (1995), distance that particles can move without colliding with one another, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility, COSPAR international reference atmosphere, "Thermal Structure of the Mesopause Region (80–105 km) at 40°N Latitude. While this idea is qualitatively correct, it turns out that Earth's atmosphere is well mixed at altitudes below about 100 km (the homopause), presumably due to the effects of weather and turbulence, while the atmospheric constituents do separate out by mass at higher altitudes. Sulfur compounds such as hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide (SO2) may be derived from natural sources or from industrial air pollution. 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