Monday: Science
What is the name for the layer of the Earth's atmosphere where weather occurs?
Hint: This layer is closest to the Earth's surface and contains three-quarters of the mass of the entire atmosphere.
The troposphere, the layer closest to the Earth's surface.
The troposphere, the layer closest to the Earth's surface, is where all the action happens when it comes to weather.
This dynamic region extends from the surface up to about 10 kilometers (6 miles) in altitude at the poles and up to about 17 kilometers (11 miles) at the equator.
It's in the troposphere where we experience rain, snow, thunderstorms, and the gentle breezes of a sunny day.
Let’s take a brief look at what the other layers are up to:
Stratosphere: Above the troposphere lies the stratosphere, where the ozone layer resides, absorbing ultraviolet radiation and causing temperature to increase with altitude.
Mesosphere: Beyond the stratosphere is the mesosphere, where temperatures decrease with altitude and meteors burn up upon entering Earth's atmosphere.
Thermosphere: The thermosphere is characterized by extremely high temperatures due to the absorption of solar radiation, but it would feel very cold to a human because the air density is so low.
Exosphere: The exosphere is the outermost layer of Earth's atmosphere, gradually transitioning into space, where the few particles present can escape Earth's gravity and form the geocorona, a faint halo of hydrogen around our planet.