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FACTS ABOUT EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE THAT ARE TRULY MAJESTIC

Added on: 13th Dec 2016

 

 

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THE SKY IS ACTUALLY

PURPLE. AS LIGHT ENTERS THE ATMOSPHERE,

AIR AND WATER PARTICLES ABSORB AND

REEMIT THE LIGHT, SCATTERING IT ON

ITS WAY TO OUR EYES. SINCE SCATTERING

PREFERS SHORTER WAVELENGTHS, THE

MOST COMMONLY SCATTERED COLOUR IS

ACTUALLY VIOLET. WE THINK WE SEE A BLUE

SKY RATHER THAN A PURPLE ONE BECAUSE OUR

EYES ARE MORE SENSITIVE TO THE COLOUR BLUE

purple sky

 

 

AS YOU LIKELY LEARNED IN SCIENCE CLASS, OUR

ATMOSPHERE IS MADE OF ABOUT 78% NITROGEN,

21% OXYGEN AND MINISCULE PERCENTAGES

OF ARGON, CARBON DIOXIDE AND OTHER GASES.

WHAT YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE LEARNED IS THAT

OUR ATMOSPHERE IS THE ONLY ONE WE HAVE

DISCOVERED (BESIDES A MAGNIFICENT FIND ON

COMET 67P) WHICH HAS FREE OXYGEN. SINCE

OXYGEN IS A HIGHLY REACTIVE GAS, IT OFTEN

BINDS WITH OTHER CHEMICALS IN SPACE. ITS

PURE FORM ON EARTH MAKES THE PLANET

HABITABLE AND LEADS OUR SEARCH FOR LIFE

ON OTHER PLANETS.

Atmospheric gases

 

 

MOST PEOPLE WILL PROBABLY GET THIS QUESTION

WRONG: IS THERE MORE WATER IN THE CLOUDS

OR IN A CLEAR SKY? THOUGH WE'D THINK

CLOUDS ARE THE MAIN DEPOSITORY SINCE

THEY DROP WATER, MOST OF THE WATER IN

OUR ATMOSPHERE IS INVISIBLE WATER VAPOUR.

FOR THIS REASON, MORE SWEAT LINGERS ON

OUR BODIES WHEN THE WATER VAPOUR IN THE

AIR, KNOWN AS HUMIDITY, IS HIGHER

Humidity_in_Polipoli_State_Park

 

 

SOME GLOBAL WARMING SCEPTICS ARGUE IT'S

NOT A REAL PHENOMENON BECAUSE THEIR CITY

HAS BEEN GETTING COLDER. IN FACT, EARTH'S

GLOBAL CLIMATE IS THE COMBINATION OF A

WIDE VARIETY OF REGIONAL CLIMATES. SO

EVEN THOUGH SOME AREAS ARE WARMING

WHILE OTHERS ARE COOLING, ON THE

WHOLE, THE AVERAGE GLOBAL CLIMATE IS

RAPIDLY WARMING

global-warming

 

 

EVER WONDER WHAT CAUSES THE WHITE STREAK

SEEN AFTER SOME PLANES SHOOT THROUGH THE

SKY? THESE WHITE TRAILS, KNOWN AS CONTRAILS

OR CONDENSATION TRAILS, FORM WHEN THE HOT,

HUMID EXHAUST FROM AN ENGINE MIXES WITH

THE COLDER OUTSIDE AIR. WATER VAPOUR FROM

THE EXHAUST FREEZES AND BECOMES VISIBLE,

JUST LIKE YOUR WARM BREATH ON A COLD DAY.

A THIN AND RAPIDLY DISAPPEARING CONTRAIL

MEANS THE AIR AT THOSE HIGH ALTITUDES IS

LOW IN HUMIDITY, INDICATING GOOD WEATHER.

A THICK, PERSISTENT CONTRAIL SIGNALS HIGH

HUMIDITY AND MAY MEAN A STORM IS COMING

contrail

 

 

OUR ATMOSPHERE HAS FIVE PRIMARY LAYERS

WHICH MAKE LIFE POSSIBLE. THE FIRST, THE

TROPOSPHERE, EXTENDS FROM SEA LEVEL

TO ABOUT 11 MILES (17KMS) UP AT THE EQUATOR.

MOST OF OUR WEATHER HAPPENS HERE DUE TO

THE MIXTURE OF WARM AIR RISING AND FALLING TO

FORM CLOUDS AND WIND

Troposphere from airplane

 

 

THE NEXT LAYER IS THE STRATOSPHERE,

REACHING UP TO AROUND 30 MILES (50KMS)

ABOVE EQUATORIAL SEA LEVEL. HEREIN LIES

THE OZONE LAYER, WHICH PROTECTS US

FROM DANGEROUS ULTRAVIOLET RAYS. THOUGH

IT IS HIGHER THAN THE TROPOSPHERE,

IT AN ACTUALLY BE WARMER DUE TO THE ENERGY

ABSORBED FROM SOLAR RAYS

Stratosphere

 

 

THE MESOSPHERE IS THE MIDDLE LAYER, EXTENDING

TO 52 MILES (85KMS) ABOVE THE PLANET'S SURFACE

WHERE TEMPERATURES HOVER AROUND -180°F

(-120°C). MOST OF THE METEORS WHICH ENTER

OUR ATMOSPHERE BURN UP IN THE MESOSPHERE

perseid meteor shower 2015

 

 

CONSIDERED THE FIRST PART OF OUTER SPACE

DUE TO ITS THINNESS AND THE AREA COVERED

(AROUND 430 MILES OR 690 KILOMETRES ABOVE

THE EQUATOR), THE IONOSPHERE IS WHERE

MOST OF OUR SATELLITES, INCLUDING THE

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, ARE PARKED

Stratorsphere

 


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