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The air we breathe: how the Earth’s atmosphere affects our lives
Air is the environment that surrounds us everywhere. Every day we breathe air without thinking about its composition and properties. But in fact, the atmosphere of our planet is a complex dynamic system that has a huge impact on all living things. Let’s understand what air consists of, what properties it has and how it ultimately affects our lives.
What is the atmosphere and what does it consist of?
The Earth’s atmosphere is a gas shell enveloping the planet. It consists of 99% nitrogen and oxygen. Argon, carbon dioxide and other gases are also present in small amounts. An important feature of the atmosphere is the presence of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide and water vapor. It is they that are able to retain heat near the surface of the planet, which makes it possible for life to exist.
The height of the atmosphere reaches 1000 kilometers. The density of air decreases rapidly with altitude. The atmosphere can be conditionally divided into several layers depending on altitude and temperature changes. Each layer has its own characteristics and affects our lives.
Atmospheric pressure and its role
One of the most important characteristics of the atmosphere is atmospheric pressure. This is the pressure that is created by the column of air above our heads due to the force of gravity. The height of this column is about 8 km. The lower the altitude, the higher the pressure.
Atmospheric pressure at sea level is about 1 kg per square centimeter. That doesn’t seem like much. But if you do the math, a column of air weighing about 10 tons presses on each square meter of the earth’s surface! This huge mass of air causes deformations and vibrations of the earth’s surface.
It is also important that the pressure of the atmosphere creates the conditions necessary for life on the planet. Without the atmosphere, water could not exist in a liquid state, everything would be covered in ice. The atmosphere also protects us from dangerous radiation and meteorites. So despite its apparent fragility, it performs very important protective functions.
What is weather and how is it formed?
The next important factor for us is weather. The difference between climate and weather is that weather is the state of the atmosphere at a particular place at a particular time. It changes throughout the day and is subject to large fluctuations.
Weather phenomena such as rain, snow, and hurricanes are formed due to differences in air temperature, pressure, and humidity over different parts of the land and over the ocean. This leads to the movement of air masses and the formation of clouds, cyclones, and anticyclones that cause precipitation and strong winds.
To predict the weather, scientists use a lot of data from satellites and ground-based measuring stations, analyze the dynamics of pressure and fronts. This is the basis for weather forecasts, which, although far from perfect, are becoming increasingly accurate.
How does the greenhouse effect affect the climate?
Another important factor is the greenhouse effect. Its essence is that some gases, primarily carbon dioxide and water vapor, allow short-wave solar radiation to reach the planet’s surface. But they also trap long-wave infrared radiation emitted by the heated Earth into space. As a result, some of the energy stays in the atmosphere, warming it.
Without greenhouse gases, the Earth’s surface temperature would be below -18 degrees Celsius. So the whole world would have frozen during the harsh ice ages. And thanks to the greenhouse effect, the average temperature stays around a comfortable +15 degrees Celsius. However, the rapid growth of CO2 emissions threatens to intensify the greenhouse effect and dangerous global warming of the climate.
Atmospheric pollution and its consequences
Unfortunately, intensive economic activity leads to an increase in atmospheric air pollution. First of all, these are emissions from burning fossil fuels, car exhausts, and industrial waste. The main pollutants are sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile hydrocarbons, particulate matter, heavy metals.
Atmospheric pollution has the most direct negative impact on the health of people, animals and plants. So in the smog of megacities people suffer from chronic respiratory diseases. Pollutants cause acid rain that disrupts entire ecosystems.
On the other hand, many pollutants deposited from the atmosphere on the Arctic and Antarctic ice allow scientists to study the history of climate and air pollution for tens and hundreds of years. But of course, it would be better to do without such historical records.
As you can see, the atmosphere has many amazing properties that largely determine our life on the planet. That is why it is so important to take care of its purity and preservation for future generations.
