EARTH SCIENCE Viewpoint: Yes, the timing of the rise in Earth's atmospheric oxygen was triggered not by biological processes but by geological processes such as volcanic eruption, which transported elements (among them oxygen) from...

Plant distribution and health is controlled by properties of the atmosphere such as climate, hurricanes, lightning, and pollution. Plants also play a large role in controlling the atmosphere. In fact, the atmosphere at any one location is not only the...

During most of history, the Earth's atmosphere was regarded as little more than a mass of air and clouds. Simple observations from the ground yielded little more than a basic understanding of the atmosphere 's characteristics. Manned balloon ascents in...

During most of history, Earth's atmosphere was regarded as little more than a mass of air and clouds. Simple observations from the ground yielded little more than a basic understanding of the atmosphere's characteristics. Manned balloon...

Throughout recorded history, people have realized that air is critical to life. Hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, Greek philosophers suggested that air was one of four basic elements, along with fire, water, and earth. For nearly 2000 years...

Many kinds of particulates and gases are deposited from the atmosphere to the surfaces of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Wet deposition refers to deposition occurring while it is raining or snowing, whereas dry deposition occurs in the time...

The atmosphere of Earth can be divided into semi-horizontal layers or spheres, based on properties such as temperature variation, gas components, or electrical properties. While air pressure and air density always decrease with altitude in the...

Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earth's gravity. It contains roughly (by molar content/volume) 78% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% carbon dioxide, trace amounts of other gases, and a...