Weather

Weather

Conditions of Earth’s atmosphere at particular time and place

Climate

Average weather conditions of a region throughout the year

Atmosphere

Layer of gases that surround the planet

Earth’s Atmosphere make conditions on Earth suitable for living things

Earth’s Atmosphere

Made up of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, and many other gases, as well as particles of liquids and solids

Nitrogen (N) – 78%

Oxygen (O) – 21%

Other Gases – 1%

Layers of the Atmosphere

¤ Troposphere ¤ Stratosphere ¤

¤ Mesosphere ¤ Thermosphere ¤

What are the four layers of the atmosphere?

Thermosphere

Mesosphere

Stratosphere

Troposphere

Ozone Layer

0 - 9 miles

9 - 39 miles

39 - 50 miles

50 - 800 miles

What is the troposphere?

¤ Lowest layer ( You are in it right now ! )

Ground up to about 9 miles! ¤ Layer where all weather occurs Temperature decreases as you go

up -60oC at the top!

¤ 75% of the Earth’s air (most mass!)

What is the stratosphere?

¤ 30 miles up from Troposphere (about 39 miles from the ground!)

¤ Contains the ozone layer Ozone protects the Earth from the Sun’s

ultraviolet radiation ¤ Ozone’s reaction with UV rays causes

warming to 0oC

Ultraviolet radiation can cause skin cancer and eye disease. Without the ozone layer, there

would be no life on Earth.

What is the mesosphere?

¤ About 50 miles up! ¤ Temperature drops to -90oC ¤ Protect the Earth from meteoroids

Millions of meteors burn up daily in the mesosphere when the meteors collide with air molecules.

Meteors travel towards Earth at 45 miles per second. Friction with the air causes the meteor to vaporize.

If you traveled at 45 miles per second, you could go from

Newport News to LA in one minute

What is the thermosphere?

¤ Highest layer! ¤ Nitrogen and oxygen molecules can be 1,800oC HOWEVER, they are so far apart

so a thermometer would show it as very cold

¤ Contains little or no air ¤ Contains Earth’s man-made satellites