The Atmosphere

​Remember,
the earth’s major systems are the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere interact. 

Earth’s atmosphere is made up of five main layers that vary in density, temperature, wind speed, and chemical composition. The atmospheric pressure decreases as distance from Earth’s surface increases, although there is no definite boundary between the atmosphere and space. Earth’s atmosphere gets thinner the higher you go in altitude.

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​The Atmosphere

The closest to Earth’s surface, is the densest, and is where all weather occurs.

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​The Troposphere

The stratosphere is much colder and lower in pressure, and contains 90 percent of Earth’s ozone, which shields the surface from harmful ultraviolet radiation.

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The Stratosphere

This is where most meteors burn up instead of striking Earth. 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. Also, this layer of the atmosphere has the lowest temperature of all layers, and they drop down to -86.5° C.

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The Mesosphere

This is where the aurorae (beautiful display of lights) occur. This layer is under constant attack from the X-rays and UV radiation coming from the Sun and the space around us. Because of this, the temperatures in this layer can even reach 2,000° C!

​The Thermosphere

The exosphere is the top layer of the atmosphere. These layers work together as a system protecting Earth from the vacuum of space.

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​The Exosphere