What is ATMOSPHERE

 A layer of gas held to a planet by its own

gravitational pull
QUESTION:
Do you think the Earth is the only planet that has atmosphere?

Our atmosphere is a delicate life-giving blanket of air

that surrounds the fragile earth.

In one way or another, it influences everything we see and

hear — it is intimately connected to our lives.
The Earth’s Atmosphere:

 Is a thin, gaseous envelope

 Comprised mostly of nitrogen and oxygen, with small amounts of other
gases, such as water vapor and carbon dioxide.
 Also nestled in the atmosphere are clouds of liquid water and ice
crystals.

How thick is the Earth’s Atmosphere?

 Difficult to say exactly how thick because our atmosphere extends upward for
many hundreds of kilometers and would seem to fade towards space.
 But almost 99 percent of the atmosphere lies within a mere 30 km (19 mi) of the
earth’s surface
 Thus, we can say ~30km at the denser areas.
Two Leading theories of the sources of gases in the Atmosphere:

1. Primordial Atmosphere
- formed with the condensing planet;
- formed from materials from space
during the final stage of the
Earth’s formation. These materials
were held in place and not immediately
emitted into space by the gravitation
pull.

2. Outgassing of the Earth

- e.g. volcanic eruption
Brief description of the three stages in the evolution of
Earth’s atmosphere as it is today.

Just formed Earth: Like Earth, the hydrogen (H2)

and helium (He) were very warm. These molecules of
gas moved so fast they escaped Earth's gravity and
eventually all drifted off into space.

Earth’s original atmosphere was probably just hydrogen

and helium, because these were the main gases in the
dusty, gassy disk around the Sun from which the planets
formed.

The Earth and its atmosphere were very hot. Molecules

of hydrogen and helium move really fast, especially when
warm. They moved so fast they eventually all escaped
Earth's gravity and drifted off into space.
Young Earth:
Volcanoes released gases H2O (water) as
steam, carbon dixoide (CO2), and ammonia
(NH3). Carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater.
Simple bacteria thrived on sunlight and CO2.
By-product is oxygen (O2).
Earth’s “second atmosphere” came
from Earth itself. There were lots
of volcanoes, many more than
today, because Earth’s crust was
still forming.

The volcanoes released

1. steam (H2O, with two hydrogen atoms

and one oxygen atom),
2. carbon dioxide (CO2, with one carbon
atoms and two oxygen atoms),
3. ammonia (NH3, with one nitrogen atom
and three hydrogen atoms).
It was during this period that the oceans, rivers, seas were
formed.
Current Earth:
Plants and animals thrive in balance. Plants take in carbon dioxide (CO2) and give off
oxygen (O2). Animals take in oxygen (O2) and give off CO2. Burning stuff also gives
off CO2.
• Much of the CO2 dissolved into the oceans.
• Eventually, a simple form of bacteria developed
that could live on energy from the Sun and carbon
dioxide in the water, producing oxygen as a waste
product.

• Oxygen began to build up in the atmosphere,

• Carbon dioxide levels continued to drop (most
are continuously dissolved into the oceans and
used in photosynthesis)
• Ammonia molecules in the atmosphere were
broken apart by sunlight, leaving nitrogen and
hydrogen.
• Hydrogen, being the lightest element, rose to the
top of the atmosphere and much of it eventually
drifted off into space.
Composition of the Present-Day Atmosphere
Why is Air Invisible to us:

The atmosphere is made up of two major gases

- nitrogen
- oxygen
- other gases such as Argon (smaller amount)

 the structure of these gas molecules are constructed in a

way that it cannot absorbed light wavelengths in way that
is sensitive to the human eye.

Since we cannot see Air, how do we know that there is

Air?
How do we know that there is Air if we cannot see it:

 breathing or we can breathe

 friction
 we can hear sound
 sky is blue
 feel
 pressure

Aside from not being able to breathe, If we suddenly lost air in the room,
what would kill us first?

PRESSURE – literally our blood will boil, most painful death

Imagine an Earth without atmosphere
 no lakes or oceans.
 no sounds
 no clouds
 no red sunsets. The beautiful pageantry of the sky would be absent.
 It would be unimaginably cold at night and unbearably hot during the day.
 All things on the earth would be at the mercy of an intense sun beating down upon
a planet utterly parched.
 no UV protection
 no protection from microparticles
Important variables in the study of the atmosphere

- Temperature
- Pressure

- Water (in its various states – as it changes to solid, liquid and gas, makes
atmospheric equations very difficult)

Study the gradients and interactions of each variable,

and how they change in time.
•Air pressure
•Air density
Atmospheric
Pressure
Next meeting
1. Atmospheric pressure (more details)
2. The Layers of the atmosphere
3. Weather and Climate
Group Activity: Think of situations how the atmosphere may have an effect to
the following:

- Military Defense and Planning

- Aeronautics
- Energy production Except for hydrology and oceanography, these other fields
simply need to determine the weather's effects at a
- Ecology and forestry
particular time and place.
- Environment
- Agriculture
- Medicine
- Developing better warnings for severe weather systems (tornadoes,
hurricanes, tropical storms, extreme drought etc.
- Hydrology and Oceanography (these two affect meteorological events by modifying
atmospheric conditions at the Earth’s surface)