CIENCIAS NATURALES

UNIT III - THE ATMOSPHERE

The atmosphere now is made up of gases: nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%) . But it was very different
4.600 million years ago.

The primitive atmosphere The present atmosphere

-It was made up of water - It is made up of nitrogen
vapour, carbon dioxide, (78%) and oxygen (21%,
nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapour,
ammonia, methane and other gases.

-The first living beings -Much later the ozone layer

(bacteria) produced oxygen was formed from oxygen.
by photosynthesis. The ozone layer protects the
Earth from radiation from the
Sun.

The layers of the atmosphere

Layers

Its temperature increases to

1000C due to X-Rays from
the Sun.

It contains clouds of ice

and dust

About 30Km thick. The

temperature increases from
-70C to 0C. The ozone
layer is here.
Very thin, but contains 80%
of the total mass of the
atmosphere. This is where
meteorological phenomena
occur.
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The Weather.

The weather describes the state of atmospheric conditions at a certain place, over a short period of time.
Weather conditions include:

Concept Definition

Humidity Concentration of water vapour in the atmosphere

Clouds Formed when rising air cools

Precipitation Water that falls to the ground: rain, snow and hail

Temperature How hot or cold the air is

Wind Movements of air

The weather depends on the atmospheric pressure

The Air has weight and it makes pressure against the surface. It is called atmospheric pressure and it is
caused by the gravity (millibars).

An Italian scientist, Torrichelli, proved that atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude. At sea level this
is 1013 mb.

The air moves from high pressure areas

to low pressure areas. This enables
weather forecasters to predict the
weather. The air moves because the
sun heats it. Hot air rises and the colder
air moves in to take that place.

Low pressure area: It brings humidity

and clouds so precipitations occur.

High pressure area. There are no

clouds and the Sun shines.
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What factors affect climate?

Latitude. How far north or south a place is from the Equator. At the Equator, solar energy
concentrates and causes high temperatures. Towards the north and the south solar energy is
lower and causes cold temperatures.

Altitude. The higer a place is, the colder it will be.

Distance from the sea. Sea water heats up (se calienta) and cool down (se enfra) slowly. In
winter, coastal areas are warmer and in summer coastal areas are warmer. P.e Madrid is colder
in winter than Gijn and is hotter in summer.

Ocean currents. Warm ocean currents flow up from the tropics to the poles.

Clouds and precipitation: Rain occurs when condensation makes large. Snow and hail occurs
when the water and vapour in the air freezes.
Clouds form when rising air cools.
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Meteorology
Is the study of different atmospheric variables to make weather predictions. Meteorologists collect
information about precipitation, temperature, wind, humidity of the air, pressure and clouds.

Weather vane. Shows the direction the wind is coming from.

(Veleta)

Anemommeter. Measures wind speed.

(Anemmetro)

Barometer. Measures atmospheric pressure.

(Barmetro)

Hygrometer. Measures the humidity in the air.

(Higrmetro)

Thermometer. Measure temperature

(Termmetro)

Pluviometer. Measures the amount

of rainfall per square metre

(Pluvimetro)
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HOW DO HUMANS IMPACT ON THE ATMOSPHERE?

There are too much activities that cause atmospheric pollution.
Most pollutant gases are: sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide and
nitrogen oxide.

They are produced by combustion from motor vehicles,

aeroplanes, burning fossil fuels and from Industrial activities.

Pollutants cause respiratory system irritation, eye irritation,

headaches

1. Global Warming. In the last century, our atmosphere has warmed between 0.5 and 0.9C on
average.

2. Acid rain. Rain is not naturally very acid but due to the carbon dioxide and other gases form acids
when mixed with the rain.

3. The hole in the ozone layer. Ozone exists naturally in the atmosphere, mainly concentrated in the
stratosphere. But ozone is been destroyed by pollution (called CFCs, used in aerosols).They react
with ozone and destroy it so solar radiation may enter trough this hole.

4. The Greenhouse effect.

A greenhouse is a house made of glass. It has glass walls

and a glass roof. People grow tomatoes and flowers and
other plants in them. A greenhouse stays warm inside, even
during winter.
Sunlight shines in and warms the plants and air inside. But
the heat is trapped by the glass and can't escape. So during
the daylight hours, it gets warmer and warmer inside a
greenhouse, and stays pretty warm at night too.
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Earth's atmosphere does the same thing as the

greenhouse. Gases in the atmosphere such as
carbon dioxide do what the roof of a
greenhouse does.

During the day, the Sun shines through the

atmosphere. Earth's surface warms up in the
sunlight.
At night, Earth's surface cools, releasing the heat
back into the air. But some of the heat is trapped
by the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

That's what keeps our Earth a warm and 15C,

on average.

So how can we protect the atmosphere?

Use hot water carefully. DO NO WASTE IT.
Turn off unnecessary heating and electrical machines.
Travel by public transport, by bike or on foot.
Avoid aerosols with CFC
Recycle paper, plastic and glass
Plant trees