Importance of the Atmosphere

Serena Cuoghi
Title of Professor of Biology

The atmosphere is a layer of gases that surrounds the Earth, essential for life as we know it, since it protects the planet from excess solar radiation, maintains a habitable temperature and provides the necessary oxygen for respiration, also becoming a complex system that interacts with the climate and geology of the Earth, thanks to its peculiar composition of approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon, and a highly variable fraction of other gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and ozone. All these gases are necessary to maintain an adequate temperature on Earth through the greenhouse effect that they cause as a phenomenon by which atmospheric gases absorb part of the solar radiation and that of the planet itself, returning it to the surface land.

A natural protection system

The layer of gas that surrounds our planet is essential to maintain a habitable temperature, protect against solar and cosmic radiation, and regulate the climate, however, the Human activity has significantly altered the composition and quality of the atmosphere, which has led to a series of worrying consequences for living beings and the environment. atmosphere.

The ozone accumulated in the stratosphere is particularly important in this sense, because it controls the intensity with which sunlight arrives and filters a large amount of UV rays, That is why the weakening that this dense mass of unstable gas has had in recent decades is a direct cause of the acceleration of the melting of the poles and the consequent increase in sea level, product of the water added by this phenomenon, a fact that can progressively affect and transform all the coastal limits of the geography world.

Similarly, the rest of the atmosphere also plays a crucial role in climate regulation, as that helps distribute solar energy throughout the planet, thus regulating the temperature of the surface. Winds and ocean currents are influenced by the atmosphere, and variations in temperature and air pressure can lead to pattern formation. climatic conditions such as storms and hurricanes, a pattern that is being strongly altered both in composition and in the dynamics of the atmosphere itself, increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme and dangerous weather events, such as floods, droughts and heat waves, as a consequence of air pollution from the activity human.

the medium to fly

In a totally different sense, the existence of an atmosphere surrounding the planet has given the possibility of having another medium, in addition to the liquid and solid, to display a whole range of evolutionary possibilities towards the vital conquest of the air, while animals such as birds and some arthropods, as well as all kinds of plant species have taken advantage of the benefits that the air offers, beyond the vital oxygen that we need breathe.

Phenomena such as communication between the species that make life out of the water, through the propagation of sound through the air and the dispersion of the pollen of the plants for their pollination, are only possible thanks to the existence of an adequate atmosphere that allows it.

Changes and more changes

In this way, the understanding of the characteristics of the atmosphere and the ways in which it interacts with the Earth, is a more than essential task to be able to develop sustainable solutions to environmental problems that humanity itself has created, hence the measurement of atmospheric gases, the understanding of circulation patterns Atmospheric and climate prediction have become active and critical research areas for scientists and nations, currently using a increasingly complex technology, such as satellites and computer models, that allow for better understanding of the atmosphere, while monitoring and predicting changes more accurately.

However, and despite all these efforts and investment of resources, little progress has been made towards controlling the true origin. of the affectations caused by human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, continuing with the increase of the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and therefore of the global temperature, a process finally known as change climate.

References

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Jauregui Ostos, E. (2003). Some modern concepts about the general circulation of the atmosphere. Geographical Investigations, (50), 121-143.

Sbarato, R. D., Sbarato, V., & Ortega, J. AND. (2007). Prediction and assessment of environmental impacts on the atmosphere/Prediction and assessment of environmental impacts about atmosphere. Editorial Bruges.

Venegas, L. E., & Mazzeo, N. TO. (2012). Wind speed and the dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere. In II Latin American Congress of Wind Engineering (CLIV) (La Plata, December 5, 6 and 7, 2012).