The Atmosphere

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

 I. Atmosphere Basics
A. Atmosphere = the thin layer of gases that surrounds
Earth
B. Atmosphere Basics
1) Absorbs radiation and moderates climate
2) Transports and recycles water and nutrients
3) 78% nitrogen gas, 21% oxygen gas, 1% other gases
4) Five layers that differ in temperature, density and
composition

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

I. Atmosphere Basics
C. Very small concentrations of permanent (remain at
stable concentrations) and variable gases (varying
concentrations)
D. Permanent gases include neon, helium, hydrogen and
xenon
E. Variable gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide
(CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), ozone
(O3) and chlororfluorocarbons (CFCs)
F. Human activity is changing the amounts of variable
gases in the atmosphere.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

II. Layers of the Atmosphere

A. Starting from earth and

working out into space,
the layers of the
atmosphere are the
troposphere, stratosphere,
mesophere, thermosphere,
and exosphere

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

II. Layers of the Atmosphere

B. Troposphere = bottommost layer

1) Air for breathing, weather
2. The densest layer – contains the highest
concentrations of all atmospheric gasses.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

II. Layers of the Atmosphere

C. Stratosphere = second to the bottom layer

1) Drier and less dense concentration of atmospheric
molecules
2) Contains UV radiation-blocking ozone molecules,
forming the ozone “layer”

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

II. Layers of the Atmosphere

D. Mesosphere =Above the stratosphere in space (3rd layer)

- Extremely low air pressure

E. Thermosphere = atmosphere’s second to the top layer

• - “Northern lights” formed when sun’s energy hits
charged gas molecules in this layer

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

II. Layers of the Atmosphere

F. Exosphere – Outermost layer

- Extremely low in density

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
III. Atmospheric properties

A. Atmospheric pressure =
measures the force per unit area
produced by a column of air
- Decreases with altitude
B. Relative humidity = the ratio of
water vapor a given volume of air
contains to the amount it could
contain at a given temperature
C. Temperature = varies with
location and time

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

III. Atmospheric properties

D. Usually, air temperature gets colder the further out into space
you get (further away from earth) in the troposphere. Warm air
from the surface of the earth rises, causing vertical mixing of
molecules in the troposphere.
E. Thermal inversion = a weather phenomenon where layer of
cool air occurs close to the ground, with a layer of warmer air
above that traps the cooler air at the surface.
1. Denser, cooler air at the bottom of the layer resists mixing into
the upper troposphere, trapping pollutants close to the ground.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
IV. The Greenhouse Effect

A. As Earth’s surface absorbs solar radiation, it

increases in temperature and emits infrared radiation
(heat).
B. When this infrared radiation bounces back to space,
it interacts with the gases in the atmosphere (causes
the molecules to vibrate), which in turn reflects a
lower-energy infrared radiation (heat) back to the
lower atmosphere and earth.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
C. The greenhouse effect is the ability of our atmosphere to
trap heat and release some of this heat energy back to the
lower atmosphere and earth.
D. The natural greenhouse effect is critical to life on earth –
without it temperatures would be over 60 F cooler on
earth.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

E. Thinking another way…

1. Without the greenhouse effect:

Sun’s radiation → absorbed by Earth → Re-radiated to space as heat

2. With the greenhouse effect:

Sun’s Radiation → absorbed by Earth
→ some re-radiated to space as heat
→ some trapped by the atmosphere

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

F. As we increase the concentrations of heat-trapping
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, more heat from the
sun is kept in the earth’s lower atmosphere, the crust, and
the oceans.
G. The percentage of incoming sunlight that is reflected
from a surface is called its albedo. The higher the albedo
of a surface, the more solar energy it reflects, and the less
it absorbs.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

H. A white surface has a higher albedo than a black surface,
so it tends to stay cooler.
I. Earth has an average albedo of 30%, but tropical regions
with dense forests have albedo values of 10-20%, and
snow covered polar regions have albedo values of 80-
95%.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

V. El Nino

A. El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a systematic

shift in atmospheric pressure, sea surface temperature,
and ocean circulation in the tropical Pacific Ocean.
B. El Nino conditions are triggered when air pressure
increases in the western Pacific and decreases in the
eastern Pacific, causing the equatorial winds to weaken.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

IV. El Nino

C. The normal build up of warm water in the western

Pacific is reversed, which stops the normal cold-water
upwelling in the Eastern Pacific. Not only is this a
problem for the marine life that depend on the nutrient-
rich cold water, but it dramatically shifts normal
precipitation patterns around the world.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

IV. El Nino

D. ENSO cycles are periodic but irregular, occurring every

2 to 8 years.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings