GEOS 220 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Tropopause, Smog, Density Of Air
Document Summary
Our atmosphere is delicate life-giving blanket of air that surrounds the fragile earth. Our understanding of the atmosphere and how it produces weather is built on knowledge acquired and applied through scientific method. This technique allows us to make informed predictions about how the natural world will behave. The universe contains galaxies that each contain billions of stars. Stars are hot glowing balls of gas that generate energy by converting hydrogen into helium near their centers. Our sun is an average sized star near the edge of the milky way galaxy. 8 planets orbit earth along with other material (comets, asteroids, meteors, dwarf planets) However, radiant energy (or radiation) that drives the atmosphere into the patterns of everyday window and weather allows earth to maintain an average surface temp of 15 degrees c. (59degreesf) Earth"s atmosphere is relativity thin, gaseous envelope comprised mostly of nitrogen and oxygen with small amounts of other gases, such as water vapor and carbon dioxide.
