Earth & its Atmosphere

The Earth's mass exerts a gravitational force that holds to the Earth a large amount of gases, known as the atmosphere. In this section, we will look at the layers and general composition of the atmosphere and discuss its ma or roles in maintaining life on Earth. !e will not discuss in detail how the atmosphere has evolved over the history of the Earth, nor how living systems on Earth affect the atmosphere. "ote #riefly, however, that $ames %ovelock, author of &aia, proposes that the atmosphere owes its current composition to feed#ack from living systems. 'e remarks that life on Earth re(uires a particular atmospheric composition, and this composition is in turn maintained #y the interaction #etween #iological systems and the atmospheric system. )onstituent

)oncentration "itrogen

*+.,+.xygen

/,.01Argon

,.02)ar#on dioxide

211 ppm "eon

3+ ppm 'elium

1./ ppm 4ethane

3.+ ppm 5rypton

3.3 ppm "itrous oxide

,.2 ppm 'ydrogen

,.1 ppm .6one

,.,3 ppm