Keeping a Weather Eye on Earth's Climate Instabilities
Part Five: An experimental atmospheric measuring instrument that NASA launched in 2002 continues to make important contributions to both weather and climate research.
science.nasa.govThe Atmospheric layers is a layer of gases encasing the planet, reaching above 10,000 km in altitude, with major divisions troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, exosphere. It is mainly nitrogen and oxygen, with argon, carbon dioxide, and trace gases, and it shields life from solar radiation while driving weather and climate dynamics; the stratospheric ozone absorbs UV radiation to protect living beings. Recent climate reports highlight rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations, the highest in hundreds of thousands of years, and ongoing increases in global temperatures and ocean heat content, alongside shrinking Arctic and Antarctic ice extents.