What Is the Difference Between the Troposphere & the Stratosphere?
The atmosphere around the Earth is made up of several different layers. The layers closest to the Earth are the Troposphere and the Stratosphere. Because of their locations, they are the ones that affect the Earth and those living on it, the most.
Other People Are Reading
-
Location
-
The troposphere is the layer of the atmosphere that touches Earth. From the surface of the earth, the troposphere extends out 6-8 kilometers from the poles and 17 kilometers from the equator.
Between the troposphere and stratosphere is a small layer of the atmosphere called tropopause. The stratosphere is about 50 kilometers from the surface of the earth.
Temperatures
-
The temperatures in the troposphere decrease by 6.5 degrees Celsius for every kilometer away from the earth's surface. The temperature stabilizes at around 12 kilometers.
The stratosphere's temperature is about -50 degrees Celsius where it is closest to the earth. The upper layers are actually warmer and average -18 degrees Celsius. The reason for the warming, as this layer gets farther from the earth, is the presence of Ozone. Ozone absorbs sunlight and reflects it away from the earth.
-
Weather
-
Most of the weather in the atmosphere occurs in the troposphere, due to this layer absorbing the water from the earth.
The Stratosphere does not have weather as it's commonly understood. However, it does contain the jet streams, which is where the air moves at speeds of 320 kilometers per hour.
Contents
-
The troposphere contains 75 percent of the atmosphere's mass. This level of the atmosphere also contains 99 percent of the atmosphere's water vapors and aerosols.
The stratosphere contains Ozone. It is essentially cloud-free, except for the high anvil shaped clouds that are sometimes seen from the earth. The stratosphere contains 15 percent of the total mass of the atmosphere.
-
References
- Photo Credit Thomas Northcut/Photodisc/Getty Images
