2.5.14

The Earth's Atmosphere Today

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The Atmosphere

The atmosphere is incredibly important. Without it, life on Earth would not exist.

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The atmosphere

  • The atmosphere contains the air that we breathe.
  • It has changed over time but has been stable for around 200 million years.
  • Our atmosphere protects us from the harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays emitted by the Sun.
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Layers of the atmosphere

  • The atmosphere can be split into the following layers (from bottom to top):
    • Troposphere – where weather systems and clouds form.
    • Stratosphere – aircraft fly just above the clouds in the stratosphere.
    • Mesosphere – high altitude scientific balloons get to this layer.
    • Thermosphere – this is the layer in which we see the northern lights.
    • Exosphere – the very thin upper atmosphere layer that merges with space.
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The composition of the atmosphere

  • Our current atmosphere is made up of:
    • 78% - nitrogen.
    • 21% - oxygen.
    • 0.9% - argon.
    • 0.04% - carbon dioxide.
    • 0.06% - traces of other gases such as methane and helium.

Jump to other topics

1Biology

1.1Cells, Tissues & Organs

1.2Reproduction & Variation

1.3Ecological Relationships & Classification

1.4Digestion & Nutrition

1.5Plants & Photosynthesis

1.6Biological Systems & Processes

2Chemistry

2.1Particles

2.2Chemical Reactions

2.3Atoms, Elements, Compounds

2.4The Periodic Table

2.5Materials & the Earth

2.6Reactivity

2.7Energetics

2.8Properties of Materials

3Physics

3.1Energy

3.2Forces & Motion

3.3Waves

3.4Electricity & Magnetism

3.5Matter

3.6Space Physics

4Thinking Scientifically

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