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This week I'm going to write about the spheres of the atmosphere, but only four of the more important ones---the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and the thermosphere.
The sphere we spend most of our time in and where most of the weather happens is the troposphere. This is the lowest layer of the atmosphere and extends up from 5 to 10 miles. This sphere is characterized by a decrease in temperature as you go higher and is the layer where most of the atmosphere’s water vapor is found. So, it’s not surprising that most of the clouds are found here.
The layer just above the troposphere is the stratosphere which is characterized by an increase in temperature as you go higher. Passenger jets like to fly as near to this layer as they can get as it is above most of the weather in the troposphere. The stratosphere extends from the upper boundary of the troposphere to an altitude of about 31 miles. It is in this layer that most of the ozone in the atmosphere is found. You’ve probably heard about the ‘depletion of the ozone layer’. The stratosphere is where most of this endangered molecule, ozone, is found. The importance of ozone is that it absorbs ultraviolet light before it reaches the Earth’s surface where it can do mischief to living things—like you and me.
Above the stratosphere is the mesosphere. This layer stretches between 31 and 50 miles and again you find a temperature decrease as you go higher. It is in this sphere that most meteors burn up, the ‘shooting stars’.
The next layer is the thermosphere. This layer begins about 50 miles up to around 435 miles. Somewhere in here is, I think, where the old ionosphere used to be, but I guess they don’t call it that any more. As the old name implied this layer has in it ionized gases .They get that way because radiation from the sun knocks loose one or more electrons from atoms of gas. These ionized atoms have an electric charge and can therefore reflect radio waves of certain frequencies allowing, for instance short wave radio waves, to travel thousands of miles. This was obviously more important before the days of communication satellites.
Nature doesn’t care what we call these various parts of the atmosphere; they are just names we give things so we all know what we are all talking about. And just because you know the name of something doesn’t mean you know anything about it. Hopefully now the names mean more and the next time your on an airplane and the pilot tells you that you’re flying at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet you’ll know you may be in the lower reaches of the stratosphere and probably won’t have to worry about bumpy air until you descend into the troposphere.
The sphere we spend most of our time in and where most of the weather happens is the troposphere. This is the lowest layer of the atmosphere and extends up from 5 to 10 miles. This sphere is characterized by a decrease in temperature as you go higher and is the layer where most of the atmosphere’s water vapor is found. So, it’s not surprising that most of the clouds are found here.
The layer just above the troposphere is the stratosphere which is characterized by an increase in temperature as you go higher. Passenger jets like to fly as near to this layer as they can get as it is above most of the weather in the troposphere. The stratosphere extends from the upper boundary of the troposphere to an altitude of about 31 miles. It is in this layer that most of the ozone in the atmosphere is found. You’ve probably heard about the ‘depletion of the ozone layer’. The stratosphere is where most of this endangered molecule, ozone, is found. The importance of ozone is that it absorbs ultraviolet light before it reaches the Earth’s surface where it can do mischief to living things—like you and me.
Above the stratosphere is the mesosphere. This layer stretches between 31 and 50 miles and again you find a temperature decrease as you go higher. It is in this sphere that most meteors burn up, the ‘shooting stars’.
The next layer is the thermosphere. This layer begins about 50 miles up to around 435 miles. Somewhere in here is, I think, where the old ionosphere used to be, but I guess they don’t call it that any more. As the old name implied this layer has in it ionized gases .They get that way because radiation from the sun knocks loose one or more electrons from atoms of gas. These ionized atoms have an electric charge and can therefore reflect radio waves of certain frequencies allowing, for instance short wave radio waves, to travel thousands of miles. This was obviously more important before the days of communication satellites.
Nature doesn’t care what we call these various parts of the atmosphere; they are just names we give things so we all know what we are all talking about. And just because you know the name of something doesn’t mean you know anything about it. Hopefully now the names mean more and the next time your on an airplane and the pilot tells you that you’re flying at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet you’ll know you may be in the lower reaches of the stratosphere and probably won’t have to worry about bumpy air until you descend into the troposphere.
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