Despite this small amount its horizontal and vertical distribution plays a key role in the global water cycle and the earth s climate. The lower boundary of the atmosphere is considered to lie on earths surface, the upper boundary is the gradational transition into space. Water at the earth s surface evaporates into water vapor which rises up into the sky to become part of a cloud which will float off with the winds, eventually releasing water back to earth as precipitation. This%text%is%derivative%from%content%onwindows%to%the%universe% 2010,% national%earth%science%teachers%association. The atmosphere is the superhighway in the sky that moves water everywhere over the earth. The atmosphere of earth protects life on earth by creating pressure allowing for liquid water to exist on the earth s surface, absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention greenhouse effect, and reducing temperature. The evidence is tied up in the isotopic composition of hydrogen, coupled with other volatile species such as neon, as shown by williams and mukhopadhyay university of california, davis, and. Dec 20, 2018 earth s water holds a rich record of planetary formation, melting, differentiating into core and mantle, and interaction with the primitive solar nebula. Although there have been large efforts and improvements in recent years, uncertainties in quantifying the components of the atmospheric water. Water is the key to our existence on this planet and it is involved in nearly all biological, geological, and chemical processes.
In the cold, dry artic regions water vapor usually accounts for less than 1% of the atmosphere, while in humid, tropical regions water vapor can account for almost 4% of the atmosphere. The thickness of the atmosphere is only about 2% of earths thickness earths radius 6500km. Earths oceans contain 97% of the planets water, so just 3% is fresh water, water with low concentrations of salts. Water vapour present in the atmosphere has made life possible on the earth water vapour is the source of all kinds of precipitation. The movement of water between the atmosphere and the earths s the process by which water molecules in liquid water escape in a measure of the amount of water vapor in the air. Understanding the atmosphere 80 calgm 600 calgm 680 calgm. H 2 o, carbon dioxide known as co 2, carbon dioxide is the primary element that is released from human activities. As the atmosphere cools, the water vapor condenses to form an ocean. Water vapor is unique its concentration varies from 04% of the atmosphere depending on where you are and what time of the day it is. The air has a special place among the conditions necessary for life. In this video, we will check out the different layers of the atmosphere, including the troposphere. Water passes from the hydrosphere to the atmosphere as it changes to a gas. Dec 31, 2015 atmosphere our planet earth is enveloped by a deep blanket of gases extending several thousands of kilometres above its surface. Like land lithosphere and water hydrosphere, the atmosphere is an integral part of the earth.
Geological survey, the earths atmosphere holds around 12,900 cubic kilometers 3,100 cubic miles worth of water at any given time. A small portion of the water in the hydrosphere is fresh nonsalty. Its maximum amount in the atmosphere could be upto 4 percent. The water cycle describes how water evaporates from the earths surface, rises into the atmosphere, cools, condenses to form clouds, and falls again to the surface as precipitation. Feb 01, 2018 a look at earth s atmosphere, including its origins, composition, and characteristics. Our fresh water supplies are stored either in the soil aquifers or. The evaporation of the 1m of water causes earth s surface to lost 83 watts per square meter, almost half of the sunlight that reaches the surface. After that, the atmosphere escapes to the space because of intense solar uv irradiation. Water at the earths surface evaporates into water vapor which rises up into the sky to become part of a cloud which will float off with the winds, eventually releasing water back to earth as precipitation.
The atmosphere is a layer of gases above earth that are trapped by earth s gravity. The earths atmosphere is a complex dynamical, physical, and chemical system. Gaseous form of water persent in the atmosphere is called water vapour. Two percent of the earths water is stored as fresh water in glaciers, ice caps, and snowy mountain ranges. Unlike oxygen and nitrogen, the concentration of oxygen depends on local weather conditions and changes greatly from place to place on earth. Since we cannot produce all of the different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation in a classroom, the light from.
The atmosphere can be divided into four layers on the basis of. Life on earth depends very much on the remarkable properties of water. Heat energy is transferred through the atmosphere as water changes from one state to another. Because of the shallowness of the atmosphere, its motions over large areas are primarily horizontal. Weather and climate the structure of the atmosphere surrounding the earth is a gaseous envelope or atmosphere, held in place by the planets gravitational attraction. Thickness of the atmosphere most of the atmospheric mass is confined in the lowest 100 km above the sea level. This gaseous cover of the earth is known as the atmosphere. Earths atmosphere protects us from incoming space projectiles comets, asteroids that burn up before reaching the planets surface, and blocks harmful short wavelength radiation from the sun. In addition, earths atmosphere has been able to contain water in each of its three phases solid, liquid, and gas, which has been essential for the development of life on the planet.
Atmosphere composition and structure notes the domain of air on the earth geography 9 atmosphere composition and structure earth is a unique planet because the life is found only on this planet. The water held in the clouds falls to the ground in the form of rain, snow or hail. Those gases that form a constant portion of the atmospheric mass. Dynamic processes cover a large range of scales from the microscopicscale.
Layers of the earths atmosphere worksheet includes. Compared to the earths radius, the atmosphere appears to be only a very thin layer of gases. Remindstudents that although there is a lot of green and blue colored on our map liquid freshsurfacewater,lessthan1% of all the water onearth is available for our use. Earths atmosphere absorb or distort incoming electromagnetic radiation. The atmosphere is a mixture of different types of gases. Heat is absorbed in processes such as melting, sublimation, and evaporation. Teacher background earth system research laboratory. Because of the shallowness of the atmosphere, its motions over. Earth s surface lost heat to the atmosphere when water is evaporated from oceans to the atmosphere. Water is present in variable amounts in the atmosphere, from 0 % to 4 %.
Maximum amount of water vapour is found in hotwet regions and its least amount is found in the dry regions. Science fusion earths water and atmosphere science fusion grade 8 earths water and atmosphere earths water and atmosphere water and the atmosphere interactive science science fusion student earth science fusion 7th grade dynamic earth science fusion grade 7 the dynamic earth early earth atmosphere the good earth introduction to earth science 4th edition the good earth introduction to earth science 4th edition pdf the good earth. Layers drawn to scale, objects within the layers are not to scale. A lot of water also filters into the ground, especially in places where the ground is porous. Water is the only naturally occurring compound that exists in three states liquid, gas, solid on earth s surface. Atmosphere and elevation notes the troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere.
The early atmosphere either escaped into space the earth was hot and light weight gases like hydrogen and helium were moving around with enough speed that they could overcome the pull of the earth s gravity or was swept into space by the solar wind click on the link if you are interested in learning more about the solar wind, otherwise dont worry about it. Structure and composition of the lower and middle atmosphere. The distribution of land and water, therefore, plays a major. Life on earth is also called its biosphere, the plants and animals in the biosphere move water. Without the evaporation process, the global surface. Phase changes of water latent heat is the heat released or absorbed per unit mass when water changes phase. About 75% of the energy or heat in the global atmosphere is transferred through the evaporation of water from the earths surface. As the earth continued to cool, the water vapor found in the atmosphere condensed to form the oceans and fresh water bodies on the continents. The atmosphere is made up of different gases, water vapour and dust particles. This suggests that there is a relation between the saturation vapor pressure of a given air parcel and its temperature. The water available to planet earth is the same water that has always been available and the only water that ever will be available. Water in the atmosphere forms of water nearly all of the water is located in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere. Introduction to earth science time in philippines nowcal. Nitrogen and oxygen are the two main gases in the atmosphere and 99 percentage of the.
The lithospherecontains all of the cold, hard solid land of the. Because water covers threequarters of the earths surface, it might appear that there is plenty to go around. The atmosphere has direct connections to most of the other. The atmosphere of earth is the layer of gases, commonly known as air, that surrounds the planet earth and is retained by earth s gravity. As you go higher in altitude, air pressure falls decreases. In reality, however, we have a limited amount of usable fresh water. It falls to the earth as rain, snow, sleet, or hail and evaporates from the earth back into the atmosphere as water vapor. The atmosphere moderates earths climate and makes it more hospitable to living things. If all of earth s water oceans, icecaps and glaciers, lakes, rivers, groundwater, and water in the atmosphere was put into a sphere, then the diameter of that water ball would be about 860 miles about 1,385 kilometers, a bit more than the distance between salt lake city, utah to topeka, kansas. The composition of the atmosphere is not static and it changes according to the time and place.
During its journey, water is continuously reused and recycled. This water flows as precipitation from the atmosphere down to earth s surface, as rivers and streams along earth s surface, and as groundwater beneath earth s surface. Incoming and outgoing longwavelength radiation is absorbed by water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases in the atmosphere. Heat radiated from the earth gets absorbed by water vapor molecules within the lowest levels of the atmosphere, which traps the earth s heat from escaping to the outer atmosphere. Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and water vapor, trap heat in. Without an atmosphere, it would simply boil away into space, or remain frozen in pockets below the surface of the planet. Most fresh water is trapped as ice in the vast glaciers and ice sheets of greenland. Atmosphere our planet earth is enveloped by a deep blanket of gases extending several thousands of kilometres above its surface. Teaching strategy the following demonstrations are designed to show how components of earths atmosphere filter or distort electromagnetic radiation. Mean distribution of atmospheric water vapor above earths surface, 1988. A storage location for water such as an ocean, glacier, pond, or even the atmosphere is known as a reservoir. Slide9 whyis earths nickname the water planet both.
What form water takes and where it goes once it reaches the earth depends on where it lands. The thickness of the atmosphere is only about 2% of earth s thickness earth s radius 6500km. Aurorae shown here at the bottom of the thermosphere can actually form at any altitude in this atmospheric layer. That leaves only one percent of the earths water available to us for our daily water supply needs. Earth s atmosphere lower 4 layers of the atmosphere in 3 dimensions as seen diagonally from above the exobase. Composition and structure of the earths atmosphere clear ias. Latent heating is an efficient way of transferring energy globally and is an important energy source for earths weather and climate.
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