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The stratosphere is the second-lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere. It lies above the troposphere and is separated from it by the tropopause. This layer extends from the top of the troposphere at roughly 12 km (7.5 mi; 39,000 ft) above Earth's surface to the stratopause at an altitude of about 50 to 55 km (31 to 34 mi; 164,000 to 180,000 ft).
Earth's surface is the boundary between the atmosphere, and the solid Earth and oceans. Defined in this way, it has an area of about 510 million km 2 (197 million sq mi). [ 12 ] Earth can be divided into two hemispheres : by latitude into the polar Northern and Southern hemispheres; or by longitude into the continental Eastern and Western ...
The composition of Earth's atmosphere is determined by the by-products of the life that it sustains. Dry air (mixture of gases) from Earth's atmosphere contains 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, and traces of hydrogen, helium, and other "noble" gases (by volume), but generally a variable amount of water vapor is ...
Land is often defined as the solid, dry surface of Earth. [1] The word land may also collectively refer the collective natural resources of Earth, [2] including its land cover, rivers, shallow lakes, its biosphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere (troposphere), groundwater reserves, and the physical results of human activity on land, such as architecture and agriculture. [3]
A planetary surface is where the solid or liquid material of certain types of astronomical objects contacts the atmosphere or outer space. Planetary surfaces are found on solid objects of planetary mass , including terrestrial planets (including Earth ), dwarf planets , natural satellites , planetesimals and many other small Solar System bodies ...
In all, the atmosphere is made up of about 78.0% nitrogen, 20.9% oxygen, and 0.92% argon, and small amounts of other gases including CO 2 and water vapor. [15] Water vapor and CO 2 cause the Earth's atmosphere to catch and hold the Sun's energy through the greenhouse effect. [16] This makes Earth's surface warm enough for liquid water and life.
Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. [1] On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in homes is composed of about 20–50% dead skin cells. [2]
Out of an average 340 watts per square meter (W/m 2) of solar irradiance at the top of the atmosphere, about 200 W/m 2 reaches the surface via windows, mostly the optical and infrared. Also, out of about 340 W/m 2 of reflected shortwave (105 W/m 2 ) plus outgoing longwave radiation (235 W/m 2 ), 80-100 W/m 2 exits to space through the infrared ...