Atmosphere
Without an atmosphere, the Earth's climate would not be like it is. The atmosphere stores a lot of heat or energy which comes from the Sun. This energy regulates the Earth's climate.
In addition to oxygen, which we need to breathe, and nitrogen, air contains small amounts of other gases and millions of tiny particles. Some of the gases are greenhouse gases which trap heat in the atmosphere and keep the Earth much warmer than it would be without an atmosphere. This is called the greenhouse effect. The moon has no atmosphere. It is about the same distance away from the Sun as the Earth. Its average temperature is -18°C. In contrast, the Earth with its greenhouse gases has an average temperature of 15°C.
The tiny particles in air include dust from desert wind storms, salt from sea spray, and pollution from volcanoes and from man-made processes like the burning of coal. These particles also regulate the global climate, by filtering out some of the incoming sunlight. The more particles in the air, the more sunlight is blocked. This can cool the climate of the Earth.
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• Chain Reaction
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• Introduction
• Atmosphere
• Causes
• Comets
• Continental Drift
• Earth's Orbit
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• Greenhouse Effect
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