Download Atmosphere - Mr D`Antoni`s Wonderful World of Science

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The Atmosphere is the layer of air
surrounding the Earth
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The gases in the atmosphere are important
because:
◦ They block out dangerous rays from the sun, such
as UV rays
◦ They stabilize the temperature across the Earth by
retaining heat
◦ They include O2, which is essential for cellular
respiration, and CO2, which is necessary for
photosynthesis.
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Atmospheric pressure is cause by gravity
pulling down the particles of the atmosphere
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This is why atmospheric pressure decreases
as you rise in the atmosphere.
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99% of the particles is present in the first 30
km above the surface
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The atmosphere is considered to extend
more than 10,000 km above the surface
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Air is a mixture of gases, especially nitrogen
and oxygen, that makes up the atmosphere
78% of air is Nitrogen
21% of air is Oxygen
1% of air is other gases
Water only makes up a small portion of the
air, but is still very important
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Let’s compare Earth to the other terrestrial
planets
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Mercury
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Venus
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Mars
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Closest planet to the sun
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Little to no atmosphere
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Almost no magnetic field
◦ 0.6% of Earth’s
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Surface temperatures range from -173°C to
127°C
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2nd closest planet to the Sun
Atmosphere mainly composed of CO2 (96.5%)
and a little bit of N2 (3.5%) with traces of many
other gases (SO2, H2O, Ar, CO, He, Ne)
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Atmospheric pressure is roughly 92 times that of
the Earth’s
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No magnetic field
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Temperatures range from -270°C to 420°C
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4th closest planet to the Sun
Very small atmosphere, about 0.6% atmospheric
pressure of the Earth’s
95.32 CO2, 2.7% N2 and traces of Ar, O2, NO,
Ne, CO, H2O and, H2
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No magnetic field
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Temperatures range from -87°C to 20°C
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5th planet from the Sun
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Mainly composed of Hydrogen and Helium,
possibly has a dense solid core
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Spins so fast that it bulges at its equator
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Its mass is 2.5 times that of all of the other
planets combined
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If its mass would increase by about 150%, due to
stronger gravitational forces, it would actually
get smaller
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Red spot of Jupiter
◦ There is a massive storm on Jupiter which is 24-40,000
km by 12-14,000 km which has been observed since at
least 1831
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Jupiter has a very strong magnetic field, about 14
times as strong as the Earth
Has 66 natural satellites, most of which are less
than 10km in diameter
Average temperature is -108°C
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6th planet from the Sun
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Mainly composed of Hydrogen and Helium
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Is also bulged at the equator due to it spinning
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Is less dense than water (0.69 g/cm3)
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May have a solid core, but scientists are unsure
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Rings of Saturn
◦ The rings extend from 6,630 km to 120,700 km
above Saturn's equator, average approximately
20 meters in thickness and are composed of 93%
water ice
◦ Size of the pieces range from dust to 10 m across
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Has 62 moons surrounding it
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Mean temperature of -139°C
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7th planet from the Sun
Mainly composed of ice, some hydrogen and
helium, and some rock
Not much is known of the composition of the
planet
It is said to have a solid core
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Has a very unsual magnetic field which does
not originate from its center
Has 9 vertical rings which range from 26 840
to 103 000 km in range
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Has 27 known satellites
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Mean temperature is -197°C
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8th and furthest planet from the Sun
Atmosphere mainly composed of Hydrogen
and Helium with a sheet of frozen water,
ammonia and methane
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Has a density of 1.638 g/mL
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Has a solid rock core
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Neptune has a small ring system going from
around 40-60,000 km from the surface of
the Earth
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Neptune has 13 known moons
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The mean temperature of Neptune is -201°C
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Atmospheric circulation is the global-scale
movement of the layer of air surrounding the
Earth
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The hot air rises and the cooler air drops
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This is due to convection.
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Without this movement, the temperature
difference between the equator and the poles
would be much greater
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The Coriolis effect change of the trajectory of
air currents due to the rotation of the Earth
Without this effect, the wind would travel
directly from the equator to the poles in a
straight line
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These are the winds which occur on the Earth.
They are due to a combination of all other
factors
There are 3 pairs of cells with the jet stream
between them.
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May 22, 1960 Valdivia, Chile1960 Valdivia earthquake9.5
March 27, 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA 1964 Alaska
earthquake9.2
December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Indonesia 2004 Indian
Ocean earthquake9.1–9.3
November 4, 1952Kamchatka, Russia (then USSR) 1952 Kamchatka
earthquakes9.0
March 11, 2011Pacific Ocean, Tōhoku region, Japan 2011 Tōhoku
earthquake9.0
November 25, 1833Sumatra, Indonesia 1833 Sumatra earthquake8.8–9.2
(est.)
January 31, 1906Ecuador – Colombia 1906 Ecuador-Colombia
earthquake8.8
February 27, 2010Maule, Chile2010 Chile earthquake8.8
January 26, 1700Pacific Ocean, USA and Canada1700 Cascadia
earthquake8.7–9.2 (est.)
July 8, 1730Valparaiso, Chile1730 Valparaiso earthquake8.7–9.0 (est.)
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An air mass is a large expanse of the
atmosphere with relatively uniform
temperature and humidity
When two air masses collide, they do not
simply combine
The cooler air mass slides below the warmer
and the warmer air mass rises
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Where warm and cold air masses collide is
referred to as a front
Cold fronts occur when a mass of cold air
meets a warm air mass
As the warm air rises it cools quickly and
condenses into clouds
This produces puffy clouds called cumulus
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A warm front is when a warm air mass meets
a mass of cold air
In this case, the warm air rises more slowly
forming light clouds called nimbostratus
On weather maps, cold fronts are represented
by blue arrows and warm fronts are
represented by red arrows
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While most air masses move horizontally over
the surface of the Earth, there is some vertical
movement
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An area of atmospheric circulation
surrounding a high pressure center
Clockwise for Northern hemisphere and
counter-clockwise in the Southern
hemisphere
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An area of atmospheric circulation
surrounding a low pressure center
Counter-clockwise for Northern hemisphere
and clockwise in the Southern hemisphere
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Strong depressions sometimes form over
warm waters of tropical oceans
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A huge spiral forms which can stretch up to
800 km across in diameter
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Winds can blow up to 360 km/h
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These storms can be called cyclones,
hurricanes or typhoons depending on the
region
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Hurricanes have a characteristic eye in the
center
◦ Typically they are between 30-65 km wide
◦ Can be as little as 3 km up to 670 km
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The eye is generally calm and without clouds
The walls of the eye, the eyewall, are
generally the tallest, strongest and most rainy
parts of the hurricane
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What are greenhouse gases?
◦ Mainly water vapour (H2O), Carbon Dioxide (CO2),
Methana (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
◦ They are present in the atmosphere and they act as
a type of insulation to retain the heat around the
Earth.
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Without this effect, the Earth’s average
temperature would be -18°C
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1- Most of the Sun’s rays reach the Earth’s
surface and is absorbed by the ground
2- The heated ground sends infrared rays
back into the atmosphere. A portion of the
infrared rays pass through the atmosphere
and are lost into space.
3- Greenhouse gases trap some of the rays
and send them back to the Earth, further
heating its surface
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Over the last century, the levels of CO2 have
increased due to combustion of fossil fuels
Human activities have increased the
production of CO2 by billions of tonnes which
is having a big effect on the environment
This is leading to climate change on the Earth
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Methane, CH4, has a 21 time greater effect on
the greenhouse effect than CO2, for the same
volume
CH4 comes from the digestion in farm
animals, and decomposition of garbage and
waste
N2O comes from the strong use of nitrogen
rich fertilizers on farms
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Climate change is defined as the abnormal
modification of climatic conditions on Earth
cause by human activity
From 1850 to 2005, the mean temperature on
Earth has increased by 0.76°C
Scientists believe that an increase of 2°C is the
critical point at which serious climate
disturbances would be inevitable
These include more droughts, heat waves, floods,
and a rise in sea levels
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Wind Energy is the energy that can be drawn
from the wind
Wind turbines are huge machines which turn with
the wind and produce electricity
Wind is a renewable resource so wind turbines
are considered to be environmentally friendly
Wind turbines do have a few negatives though
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People say that wind turbines ruin the natural
beauty of the landscapes
Wind is not a reliable source of power since
the winds are not predictable
Wind energy cannot be stored. Once the wind
is gone, so is the electricity
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The Sun and the Moon are the two bodies in
our solar system which most affect us
The Sun is vitally important because its
energy provides us with light and heat
The Moon exerts gravitational forces upon
the Earth which explains the tides.
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The Sun is composed 75 percent of Hydrogen
and 25 percent Helium
The temperature of the core reaches up to 15
million °C due to nuclear Fission
◦ Hydrogen being made into Helium
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Light only takes 8 minutes to reach the Earth
from the Sun
◦ The Earth is 150,000,000 km away from the Sun
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Solar radiation contains all of the waves in the
electromagnetic spectrum
Only visible light, some infrared, and a small
amount of UV light reach the surface of the
Earth
Due to the curvature of the Earth, the equator
receives much more heat than the polar
regions
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The Earth receives enough energy in one hour
from the sun to satisfy the world’s energy
requirements for a year.
◦ Solar energy is the energy that comes from the Sun
in the form of radiation through the atmosphere
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Harnessing this energy is a huge challenge
There are a few ways that we can harness the
power of the Sun
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Passive Heating Systems
◦ By positioning the house to take advantage of the
Sun.
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Photovoltaic Cells
◦ When the material that makes up the cells is hit by
light, electrons are set into motion. This causes a
current which can be used to power small
appliances or an entire house
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Solar Collectors
◦ These are sheets of glass which has copper pipes
below it to absorb to heat up water or air for homes
or water for a pool
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The moon has been revolving around the Earth
for billions of years
Its average diameter is 3476km, which is roughly
a quarter of the Earth
The theory behind the origin of the Moon is that
the Earth was struck by a meteor the size of
Mars. This caused part of the Earth to explode
The pieces reunited to form the Moon
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The Moon not only rotates around the Earth,
but also rotates on its own axis.
These two movements are synchronised to
that both rotations take the same amount of
time (27.3 days)
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Water masses on the side closest to the Moon
are attracted to it
As a result, they will swell, forming a slight
bulge in the Moon’s direction
Also, the waters on the opposite side of the
moon get pulled towards the moon as well.
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Tidal energy is the energy obtained from the
ebb and flow of the tides
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Works similarly to hydroelectric dam
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When the tide come in, it fills a huge basin
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The water remains there until the tide goes
out again
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The gate opens, releasing the basin of water
to flow through the turbines
The turbine is set into motion, generating
electricity
There are numerous advantages
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Produces no greenhouse emissions
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Entirely renewable
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Perfectly reliable since meteorologists can
predict the ebb and flow of tides
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Building plants is complex and costly because
they have to stand up to harsh conditions
There are few suitable sites in the world for
building this type of power plant
There must be a tidal range of at least 5
meters