ATMS 120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Water Vapor, Tropopause, Flashlight
6 Feb 2021
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Document Summary
The top of the atmosphere is 120 km or 75 miles. 99. 9% of the mass of the atmosphere is below 36 miles. Lots of energy and motion in this layer of the atmosphere. Nitrogen makes up 78% of the atmosphere. Oxygen makes up 21% of the atmosphere. If there was more oxygen, fires would start more easily. If there was less oxygen, life would not sustain. Water vapor is a variable gas and can vary where you are on earth. Methane, ozone, and carbon dioxide keep the earth warm. All gases are almost completely transparent to the sun"s peak energy output (visible light) O2 and no2 are also transparent to the earth"s peak energy output (thermal. Greenhouse gases are not transparent, and efficiently absorb energy and warm infrared energy) the atmosphere. In the troposphere and mesosphere, air temperature decreases with increasing altitude. Average global surface air temperature without greenhouse gases: 0 degrees f.
