The Atmosphere pt2

The air I breathe and wind beneath my wings con’t

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello listeners, I cannot thank you enough for stopping by.
It's time for another episode of the Science podcast some
Stuff to blow your mind. To day, We're gonna blow
your mind with science. This episode will be a part two.
Last week we started in on the wild and wonderful

(00:22):
world of our atmosphere and it was just too much
to fit into one episode. So if you have not
got last week's episode, you'll want to check that out.
It is imperative you will have no idea what we're
talking about. For the rest of us, and now that
you're caught up forward within our atmosphere, the wind beneath

(00:48):
our wings, the air with which we breathe. It is
also the place of weather and climate. Weather includes phenomena
like snow, thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes. These are driven by the

(01:08):
movement of air masses, the interaction of warm and cold fronts,
and the differences in atmospheric pressure over long periods. Changes
in the Earth's atmosphere can lead to shifts in climate.
The ongoing increasing greenhouse gases is causing global temperatures to rise,

(01:33):
leading to melting polarize, rising sea levels, and shifting weather patterns.
The Earth's surface absorbs sunlight and radiates heat, but greenhouse
gases trap some of this heat in the atmosphere, maintaining
Earth's warmth. This natural processes essential for life, but is

(01:57):
being intensified by human activity. High pressure systems are associated
with clear skies and calm weather, while low pressure systems
often bring clouds, rain, and thunderstorms. The interaction of these
systems defines regional weather patterns. Atmospheric circulation is driven by

(02:24):
the arist rotation, the distribution of sunlight, and the physical
properties of the atmosphere. Wind patterns are caused by differences
in atmospheric pressure. Winds blow from high areas to low pressure.
Major wind systems include the trade winds, westerlies, and polar easterlies.

(02:50):
The jet streams are narrow bands of strong winds high
in the atmosphere. They influence weather by moving storm systems
across the globe. Ocean currents driven by wind patterns play
a crucial role in the transfer of heat across the
planet and can significantly affect weather such as al Nina

(03:12):
and lamina. The Coriolis effect is the deflection of moving
objects like winds due to the Earth's rotation. It causes
winds to curve to the right in the northern hemisphere
and to the left in the southern hemisphere. Human activity

(03:35):
has had a profound impact on Earth's atmosphere, affecting air quality, climate,
and global ecosystems. Human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels,
release pollutants like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen oxides, leading

(03:55):
to air quality problems like smog and acid rain. Certain chemicals,
particularly chlorofluorocarbons, have damaged the ozone layer, thus leading to
ozone holes in places like Antarctica. These have increased the
risk of skin cancer and other u V related health problems.

(04:19):
Global warming is the excessive build up of greenhouse gases
in the atmosphere, causing changes in climate, including more extreme
weather events, rising sea levels, and shifts in ecosystems. For
much bigger weather, let's take a look at the global

(04:41):
weather phenomena. Global weather patterns are phenomena that are influenced
by the interactions of the atmosphere with other parts of
the Earth, such as the oceans. El Nino and La
Nina are phases of the El Nino souther oscillation, which

(05:01):
influences global weather. El Nino is associated with warmer sea
surface temperatures in the Pacific, while Lenina is associated with
cooler temperatures. Both have significant impacts on weather patterns worldwide,
including droughts, floods, and hurricanes. Monsoons are seasonal winds that

(05:26):
bring heavy rains and certain regions, especially in South Asia.
They are caused by differential heating between land and ocean,
affecting agricultural cycles and local economies. The intertropical convergence zone
is a band of low pressure near the equator where

(05:47):
the trade winds of both hemispheres meet. It is a
region of intense heat and rainfall, often associated with tropical
rainstorms and thunderstorms. Let's dive deeper into the composition of
our atmosphere. It is made up of trace gases such

(06:09):
as carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a critical greenhouse gas
levels increasing primarily due to human activities like burning fossil
fuels and deforestation. While it constitutes only about zero point
zero four percent of the atmosphere, its impact on climate
change is significant because of its ability to trap heat.

(06:35):
Methane is another potent greenhouse gas. Methane is more effectivet
trapping heat than CO two. Although it exists in much
smaller concentrations around ooof one ten thousandth of a percent.
It's release through natural processes such as wetlands, termites, and

(06:56):
human activities like livestock and other natural gas. Extra O three,
or ozone, is found mainly in the stratosphere. Ozone absorbs
harmful ultra violet radiation from the Sun. However, ozone is
also present at the ground level as a component of smog,

(07:18):
where it can cause respiratory issues. There is water vapor
in our atmosphere. Water vapor is the most variable component
in the atmosphere. Its presence influences cloud formation, precipitation, and weather.
It can range from less than one percent in dry

(07:39):
areas up to about one hundred percent in tropical regions.
Water vapor plays a crucial role in the Earth's energy balance.
When it condenses into liquid, it releases latent heat, driving
atmospheric circulation and other weather systems, and of course the

(08:01):
oxygen and nitrogen. Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude. At sea level,
it's about one zero one three hectopascals. As you climb higher,
the air becomes less dense, leading to lower pressure. This

(08:21):
drop in pressure is what causes the sensation of difficulty
in breathing and high altitudes. Air density is inversely related
to pressure and temperature. Warm air is less dense, which
is why it rises. Cold air is denser and tends
to sink. This difference in density drives many of Earth's
weather systems, including convection currents. The atmosphere plays a fairly

(08:47):
large role in energy transfer of the planet, such as
solar radiation. About thirty percent of the incoming solar radiation
is reflected back into space by clouds, aerosols, and the
Earth's surface. The rest is absorbed by the surface or
the atmosphere. The Earth's surface absorbs more than half of

(09:08):
the incoming solar radiation, which then heats the surface and
lower atmosphere. Some of the absorbed radiation is readmitted as
infrared radiation. Greenhouse gases absorbing reradiate this heat, warming the
lower atmosphere. Without this effect, Earth would be too cold
to support life. The Earth maintains a balance of incoming

(09:33):
solar radiation and outgoing infrared radiation. The atmosphere and oceans
redistribute heat, moving it from the equator, which receives more
solar radiation, to the pulse, which receives less. This transfer
of heat is what drives global circulation patterns. The oceans
play a major role in absorbing and storing heat from

(09:55):
the atmosphere. They then release this heat back into the atmosphere,
especially in the tropics. This interaction stabilizes global temperatures and
effects weather patterns. Next, let's talk about atmospheric layers and
vertical movements convection. For example, in the troposphere, warm air

(10:16):
rises because it is less dense than cooler air. As
this warm air rises, it cools, condenses, and forms clouds.
This process creates convection cells like the hadly, feral and
polar cells, which helps circulate air globally. An air mass
is a large body of air that has uniform temperature

(10:38):
and humidity. Common types include polar, maritime, tropical, continental, and
polar continental air masses. These air masses affect weather systems
when they move. The boundary between two different air masses
is called a front. Warmfronts bring gentle weather changes, while
cold fronts are associated with more severe weather, such as

(11:02):
thunder storms. In the troposphere, the temperature typically decreases with altitude.
This is known as the environmental lapse rate. In the stratosphere. However,
temperature increases with high due to the ozone absorption of
u V radiation. This inversion leads to a stable layer.

(11:23):
The boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere, known as
the tropopause, marks the point where temperature stops decreasing and
begins to increase. Folks, that's all the time we've had
for to day's episode of science stuff to blow your mind.
I know my mind's been blown, and I hope you've
enjoyed listening. Until next time,