Layers of the atmosphere

THE TROPOSPHERE:

• It is the first layer of the atmosphere, here is where life exists and we breathe.
• It extends from the Earth's surface to about 12 to 18 kilometers in the sky.
• It's the layer where almost all of our weather happens and this layer has the clouds in the sky.
• The air here is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and the last 1% is made of argon, water vapor, and carbon dioxide.
• Hot air balloons, commercial airplanes (long-distance flights), butterfly and birds fly in this layer.

THE STRATOSPHERE

• It extends from the troposphere to about 50 kilometers above sea level.
• The ozone layer is found here, it´s made of a gas called ozone, which protects us from harmful rays from the Sun (called radiation).
• The top part of the stratosphere is the hottest because the ozone layer generates a lot of heat.
• It is hot at the top and cold at the bottom, contrary to what happens in the troposphere.

THE MESOSPHERE

• It extends above the stratosphere to approximately 80 to 90 kilometers above sea level.
• It is the coldest layer of atmosphere approximately – 90°C near the top.
• It is the part where most meteors burn up.
• The air is still thin, so you wouldn’t be able to breathe up here.

THE EXOSPHERE

• It is the outermost layer of Earth's atmosphere (the last), which separates the atmosphere from outer space.
• It is located above the thermosphere to approximately 3000 kilometers above sea level.
• Its temperature varies at night it becomes very cold while during the day it can be very hot.
• The satellites orbit the earth in this layer.

THE THERMOSPHERE

• It is located above the mesosphere to approximately 800 kilometers above sea level.
• It's very hot as temperatures can reach up to 1200°C because absorbs a lot of energy from the Sun.
• The few gas molecules that are in the thermosphere are mostly oxygen, nitrogen and helium.
• The thermosphere is home to the International Space Station and low Earth orbit satellites; the Auroras (Northern Lights/Southern Lights) happen here.