2009 Year 4 Geography Term 3 Week 1 Assignment

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2009 Year 4 Geography – Term 3 Week 1 Assignment

QUESTION:        Describe the composition and structure of the atmosphere

The atmosphere consists of various gases, dust particles and pollutants. It also contains water vapour, ozone and carbon dioxide, the water vapour forms clouds and hence precipitation. Clouds help to prevent excessive heating of the earth by reflecting scattering and absorbing incoming solar radiation. They also prevent excessive cooling of the earth by absorbing outgoing terrestrial radiation.

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The atmosphere is divided into four main layers and they are the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and the thermosphere. The troposphere is the layer of the atmosphere that is closest to earth and it extends up to 18km in the atmosphere from the equator of the earth’s surface. The troposphere contains dust, water vapour and other particulates and is also the layer of the atmosphere where weather occurs. In the troposphere, as the altitude increases, the temperature decreases. The layer of the atmosphere above the troposphere is the stratosphere and it extends up to 50km in the atmosphere from the ...

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