The average temperature of the atmosphere is 15 ° C. This temperature is defined as the statistical average obtained from its maximum and minimum temperatures..
If there were no atmosphere, the average temperature on Earth would be -32 ° C. The maximum and minimum temperatures of the atmosphere vary according to the hemisphere, being the maximum for the northern hemisphere between July and August, and for the southern hemisphere between January and February..
The atmosphere allows the presence of solar radiation that warms the surface of the Earth, and also prevents the output of infrared radiation that the Earth's surface returns, thus maintaining heat.
This is the so-called greenhouse effect, which is generated by COtwo and water vapor from the troposphere. The ozone layer absorbs radiation from the Sun and helps increase the temperature in the upper part of the stratosphere..
Gases are found at the top of the thermosphere that absorb radiation from the Sun and heat the atmosphere..
Earth is the only planet in the solar system with an atmosphere that can support life. The mantle of gases not only contains the air that we breathe, but also protects from the explosions of heat and radiation emanating from the Sun. The atmosphere warms the planet during the day and cools it at night..
Earth's atmosphere is about 300 miles thick. Most of this is 16 kilometers from the surface.
Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude; that is, the higher the altitude, the lower the atmospheric pressure.
In order to study and analyze how the atmosphere behaves, it is very useful to divide it into several layers, which maintain the thermal gradient more or less constant..
The troposphere extends from the earth's surface to a height of between 6 and 20 kilometers. It is thickest at the equator, at about 18 to 20 kilometers.
At the poles, the atmospheric thickness decreases, reaching about 6 kilometers. Average temperatures also drop from 15 ° C at the surface to -51 ° C at the top of the troposphere..
The stratosphere is located above the troposphere and extends 50 kilometers above the earth's surface. Contains between 85 and 90% of atmospheric ozone.
Ozone absorbs ultraviolet light from solar radiation and causes a temperature inversion; that is, temperatures increase instead of decreasing with height.
Temperatures range from approximately -51 ° C at the bottom to -15 ° C at the top.
The mesosphere is located above the stratosphere and has an extension of 85 kilometers above the earth's surface.
The temperature decreases from -15 ° C at the edge of the stratosphere to -120 ° C at the bottom of the thermosphere.
Meteorites vaporize in the mesosphere, giving it a higher concentration of metal ions than other atmospheric layers.
From the top of the mesosphere, the thermosphere extends between 500 and 1000 kilometers above the Earth's surface..
The gases are thinner in this layer, absorb ultraviolet radiation and X-rays from the Sun, and cause temperatures to rise to 2000 ° C near its top..
The outermost atmospheric layer extends 10,000 kilometers above the Earth and is primarily hydrogen and helium..
Temperatures rise from 2000 ° C at the bottom of the exosphere but, as the air is very thin, they transmit little heat.
Yet No Comments