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Gravity holds gases near to the Earth to create the atmosphere, its volume composed 78 percent of nitrogen, 21 percent of oxygen, and 1 percent of argon, plus an abundance of other gases in smaller amounts.
In the mesosphere, temperatures plummet to more than 100 degrees below zero. The stratosphere is warmer but still below freezing. The thinnest layer, the troposphere, holds about 90 percent of all the gases, sustaining life and producing weather. Water vapor in the atmosphere ranges from zero to about 4 percent. ez
Explore the Greenhouse Effect and Global warming Other science links from explorezone.com Graphic and text by Robert Roy Britt
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The
exosphere extends up about 1,500 miles (more than three times the
height of this chart). It has minimal air and constantly loses molecules
to outer space. It's hottest in the thermosphere, exceeding 3,600
degrees.