The importance of atmosphere it is such that if it were suddenly missing, life would cease to exist as we know it. Although we are rarely aware of what it represents to us, the truth is that without it we would not be here.
The atmosphere makes life easier and protects the planet. It had its origin with the planet itself, approximately 4,600 million years ago, although its composition then is not the same as it is now..
The primordial atmosphere was extremely dense, due to the gases that continually escaped from the interior of the newly formed Earth, abundant in hydrogen, water vapor, methane, helium, hydrogen, sulfur, monoxide and carbon dioxide.
However, without its own magnetic field, the solar wind, that tide of charged particles that the Sun continuously radiates, was in charge of sweeping away the molecules that made up the primitive atmosphere. In this way, light gases such as hydrogen and helium escaped..
When the aquatic masses began to appear, new compounds were formed that when reacting with the rocks, gave rise to gases such as methane and ammonia.
As it cooled, the Earth continued to expel new gases until creating an atmospheric composition more similar to the current one, with nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor..
Finally, with the arrival of the first bacteria, about 3.5 billion years ago, the proportion of oxygen increased. And with it, new organisms of greater size and complexity arrived.
Living beings are adapted to breathe the mixture of gases that make up the atmosphere, and as we have said, the presence of oxygen has been vital for the development of life.
The oxygen present in the atmosphere is necessary for the maintenance of cellular functions, both in animals and plants. And for these, carbon dioxide is essential to carry out photosynthesis.
The atmosphere prevents large space visitors with destructive intentions from reaching the Earth's surface. Indeed, the friction force generated between the surface of the meteors and the molecules of the atmosphere is strong enough to disintegrate them by combustion..
In addition, new simulations indicate that the dynamics between the air flow and the meteor moving at high speed, is capable of causing the gaseous molecules to enter with great pressure through the cracks in the rock and fragment it before it manages to touch the surface.
The atmosphere prevents too much heat from being lost at night and also prevents the sun's rays from directly scorching the earth's surface throughout the day. If the atmosphere did not exist, the temperature on Earth would experience very abrupt changes.
Some of the gases that make up the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, are capable of retaining heat, as a mild greenhouse effect. In this way the temperature does not drop sharply. By absorbing a good part of the solar radiation that arrives during the day, excessive heating of the surface is avoided.
Since in this way the atmosphere prevents extreme temperature variations, the global average for the planet remains at 15 ºC, but if the atmosphere did not exist, it is estimated that there would be changes so extreme as to give rise to an average of -18 ºC.
On the other hand, climatic processes take place in the atmosphere: clouds, rain, winds and other manifestations of the climate. The water cycle occurs in the atmosphere: water evaporates and water vapor rises and cools, then condenses and forms clouds.
A large amount of water condensed in the clouds produces rain and in this way the water returns to the earth to start a new cycle.
Sound is essential for the communication of many species, including of course humans. The variety of sounds in nature is surprising, and on the other hand music is one of the highest expressions of humanity.
We rarely stop to think that thanks to the atmosphere we can enjoy all this, since sound is a longitudinal mechanical wave that requires a material medium - air molecules or another medium - to propagate..
The sound waves make the air molecules vibrate and this vibration reaches the eardrum, travels to the brain thanks to the auditory nerve and is conveniently interpreted there. The depths of space are completely silent, as there is no atmosphere there to make sound propagate.
Fire has been one of the great discoveries of humanity, which facilitated its evolution.
Well, combustion is only possible in the presence of oxygen, and the earth's atmosphere has enough to create good fires that allowed primitive human beings, like those of today, to cook their meals, protect themselves from predators, from the cold and create new tools and utensils.
In addition to the light and heat that we appreciate so much, the Sun produces other less benevolent radiation. The atmosphere protects to a large extent from harmful radiation such as ultraviolet rays and others of higher energy that the Sun also sends, such as X-rays and gamma rays..
Part of this radiation is absorbed and reflected by the upper layers of the atmosphere and by the ozone layer. So much so, that the appearance of the ozone layer facilitated the migration of living organisms from the seas to the mainland..
Without the atmosphere we would not know the variety of landscapes that currently exist on the planet. Wind and rain, products of atmospheric activity, are responsible for modeling all kinds of landscapes.
Rocks change their shape due to wear and tear caused by weathering. The sand particles, driven by the wind, erode the surface like sandpaper. For its part, rainwater seeps into tiny cracks in the rocks and slowly dissolves them.
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