019.2 Temperature Layers

The troposphere is unstable because the warm air near the ground wants to rise. Here is where weather happens.

The stratosphere is stable because the colder air is at the bottom and the warmer air at the top.

When ash and dust get into the stratosphere, they stay there for years because there is no vertical air circulation there.

The eruption of Mt. Pinatubo created a haze in the stratosphere that reduced the sunlight reaching the Earth's surface by about 5% for several years afterward.

The Ozone Layer consists of an unstable form of Oxygen (three atoms instead of the usual two). It shelters the Earth's surface from ultraviolet radiation.

Here is a false-color image showing the large and growing hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. Conditions over Antarctica exagerate the effect of chlorofluorocarbons on ozone destruction. For more information on the ozone layer, go to the NASA Earth Observatory.

The Ionosphere, (once called the Heaviside Layer) reflects radio waves and is the basis for long-distance radio transmission.