What Is the Troposphere?
The troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere. It starts at ground level and extends upwards to about 13 km. All weather occurs in the troposphere.
Outside Earth
![What Is the Thermosphere? [Infographic]](https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Thermosphere-Feature-1-425x319.jpg)
What Is the Thermosphere? [Infographic]
The thermosphere is the thickest atmospheric layer (80-550 km). It’s known for its aurora borealis, orbiting satellites and the Karman Line (edge of space).
Ozone Layer: Earth’s Protective Shield Has a Hole In It
What makes Earth unique is its ozone layer. Ozone is a colorless gas made up of three oxygen atoms which protects us from harmful UV radiation from the sun.
![How Much Space Junk Orbits Earth? [Infographic]](https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Space-Junk-0-425x319.png)
How Much Space Junk Orbits Earth? [Infographic]
There is over 5500 tons of space junk above Earth’s surface. They mostly consist of small and medium debris within 700 – 36,000 km range in the atmosphere.
What Is the Stratosphere?
Main highlights of the stratosphere are: (1) The ozone layer absorbs harmful UV light (2) This causes temperature to rise (3) It contains 10% of air mass.
What Is the Exosphere?
The exosphere is the upper part of Earth’s atmosphere. It starts at about 500 km and gradually extends into the vacuum of outer space at about 190,000 km.
Earth’s Atmosphere Composition: Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon and CO2
From largest to smallest, Earth’s atmosphere composition contains nitrogen, oxygen, argon, CO2 and trace gases. Water vapor is excluded from this total.
![What Are the 4 Layers of the Atmosphere? [Infographic]](https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Earth-Atmosphere-Layers-425x319.png)
What Are the 4 Layers of the Atmosphere? [Infographic]
There are 4 primary layers of the atmosphere on Earth: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere. The ionosphere and exosphere are above those.
What Is the Mesosphere?
Highlights of the mesosphere include: (1) Air is very thin (2) It’s the coldest region of the atmosphere close to -100°C and (3) It’s where meteors burn up.