Composition of the Atmosphere

Composition of the Atmosphere

The atmosphere is essential for the survival of all the organisms on the earth. The atmosphere is a blanket of gases and suspended particles that entirely envelope the earth. It extends outward over thousands of kilometres from the earth’s surface. 

Water vapour, aerosols and tiny solid particles occur in varying quantities as suspended material. These are responsible for weather phenomena as they have ability to absorb and release heat energy.

The atmosphere is composed of mixture of many gases, water vapour and other solid particles. The major components are nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%) and other gases (1%). Argon, Carbon dioxide, Neon and the other gases found in the atmosphere (Figure 6.1).

Layers of the Atmosphere

The atmosphere is divided into five distinct layers (Figure.6.2) based on the temperature variations. They are,

1.        Troposphere

2.        Stratosphere

3.        Mesosphere

4.        Ionosphere( Thermosphere) and

5.        Exosphere

Troposphere

The troposphere( Figure 6.2) is the lower most layer of the atmosphere. It extends approximately to a height of 8 km from the poles and 18 km from the equator. The height of the troposphere changes seasonally also. It increases during summer and decreases during winter.

All weather phenomena occur in this layer as it has dust particles and water vapour. This layer has clouds which produce precipitation on the earth. The Sun’s rays directly fall on the earth and then they are reflected back into the atmosphere. The temperature decreases in the troposphere with increase in altitude at the rate of 1  ° C for 165 metre or 6.5  ° C for every 1000 metres of ascent. This is known as lapse rate of temperature. This is the densest layer as it contains 70 to 80 percent of gases. The outer boundary of the troposphere is called tropopause, which is about 1.5 kilmeter thick.

Stratosphere

It is the second layer of the atmosphere found above the troposphere. It approximately extends up to a height of 50 km from the earth’s surface. Temperature is constant up to a height of 20 km and increases gradually up to the stratopause where temperature is nearly -4° C. The lower part of this layer is highly concentrated with ozone gas which is called as ‘ozonosphere’. It prevents the ultra-violet rays from the Sun to enter into the lower part of the atmosphere as the rays are highly harmful it causes skin cancer and other ill effects to living organisms. But the ozone layer safeguards the life on the earth.

Mesosphere

The mesosphere is the third layer of the atmosphere found approximately up to a height of 85 km above the surface of the earth. It is the coldest layer of the atmosphere. The temperature decreases with increase of altitude due to the absence of ozone. Its upper boundary is called mesopause where temperature reaches 2908C. Luminous noctilucent clouds form here due to the presence of cosmic dust. Meteors falling from the space get burned in this layer. It is because when meteors hit the air, the air gets compressed and heated up causing meteors to burn out.

Ionosphere (Thermosphere)

The ionosphere is the fourth layer of the atmosphere extending approximately up to a height of 400 km. The temperature increases rapidly up to 1,0008C. It is due to the absorption of very short wave and high energy solar radiation by the atoms of hydrogen and oxygen gases. When light energy is transformed into heat energy, some gas molecules lose or gain electrons and become the charged particles called ions. The charged particles forming the lower part of the thermosphere as a zone, is called Ionosphere (Figure 6.4). These ionised particles create auroras at higher latitudes. Ionosphere can reflect radio waves back to the earth. This facilitates long distance wireless satellite communication. The credit of discovering ionosphere goes to Hennelly and Heaviside.

Exosphere

The upper most layer of the atmosphere which extends into the outer space from above 400 km up to 1600km. It has rarefied contents. It contains mainly oxygen and hydrogen atoms. These atoms can travel hundreds of kilometres without colliding with one another. Thus, the exosphere has no longer behaves like a gas. The temperature increases with increase of altitude and it ranges as high as 1650 ° C. The gravitational pull is minimal in this layer. This layer gradually merges with the space.

Ozone and Ozone Depletion

Ozone (O³) is form of oxygen that combines three atoms into each molecule. It absorbs and filters the harmful ultraviolet B radiation coming from the sun. This way the ozone layer protects all life on earth. However, ozone is harmful when it develops near the ground. It causes health problems like asthma and other respiratory illness.

Ozone Depletion: A steady decline in the concentration of ozone in the earth’s stratosphere (the ozone layer) is called ozone depletion.

Ozone depletion occurs when chloro fluoro carbon (CFC) and halon gases, formerly  found  in  aerosol  spray  cans and  refrigerants  are  released  into  the atmosphere and they cause chemical reactions that break down ozone molecules and reduce the concentration of them. Nitrogen oxide released by emitted by supersonic aircrafts can also destroy the ozone molecules to break down. Ozone-depleting substances are present throughout the stratospheric ozone layer because they are transported great distances by atmospheric air motions. The severe depletion of the Antarctic ozone layer known as the “ozone hole” occurs because of the special atmospheric and chemical conditions that exist there and nowhere else on the globe. The very low winter temperatures in the Antarctic stratosphere cause polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) to form. Special reactions that occur on PSCs, combined with the relative isolation of polar stratospheric air, allow chlorine and bromine reactions to produce the ozone hole in Antarctic springtime.

Satellite images of the earth over last decades observed that the atmospheric ozone layer is getting thinner. On October 2, 2015, the ozone hole was recorded to its maximum size of 28.2 million sq.km over Antarctica (Figure 6.5). The size of the ozone hole is larger than the size of continent of North America. The ozone holes over Antarctica allow the ultraviolet radiation to enter and cause global warming, skin cancer, eye cataract and even blindness.

Depletion of the ozone layer has consequences on human, animal, plants and micro organisms. This typically results from higher UV levels reaching us on earth. Research confirms that high levels of UV rays cause non-melanoma skin cancer.

To protect the ozone layer for our future generation, avoid using products which are emitting pollutants such as aerosol sprays, blowing agents for foams and packing materials, as solvents and as refrigerants.