Predicting Weather By The Moon - Xavier University Libraries

Weather By The Moon
form. The reason is that the atmosphere in the lowest 100km
is turbulent and the gravitational separation is simply overwhelmed
by the turbulence. Above 100km, there isn’t so
much turbulence, and the atmosphere does separate
gravitationally.
There is only 350 parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere
at any one time. Over 99% is permanaently at
either ground level or beneath the oceans.
COMPOSITION
OF
THE
ATMOSPHERE
Percentageindry air
Gas
78.
08
20.
95
0.
93
0.
03(
1)
0.
0018
0.
0005
0.
0001
0.
00005
0.
000009
N2
( Nitrogen)
O2
( Oxygen)
Ar
( Argon)
CO2
( Carbon
Dioxide)
Ne
( Neon)
He
( Helium)
Kr
( Krypton)
H2
( Hydrogen)
X
( Xenon)
Weather, as it affects humans, is mostly confined to
the lowest 15 to 25 kilometers (km) of the atmosphere,
for it is in this lowest part that most of the mass of air is
contained. (To convert kilometers to approximate number
of miles, multiply by 0.6)
There is also weather in the upper part of the atmosphere
from about 60 km above the Earth to a height of 300
to 1,000 km. Strong winds, storms, and great electrical
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