Why does air pressure change with increasing altitude above Earth’s surface? Why does the height of the tropopause vary by latitude and throughout the year?

Ch3 Lab – Layers of the Atmosphere

Create a chart (Word table) showing all the listed atmospheric layers. Include in the chart, the altitude range in kilometers, temperature range in Celsius and gases present in each layer. In an additional column, specifically list what you might find in each layer. Your chart should have 5 columns. You will have to do outside research to complete the chart thoroughly.

• Heterosphere
• Homosphere
• Thermosphere
• Mesosphere
• Stratosphere
• Troposhere
• Ionosphere
• Ozonosphere

In addition to the chart, answer/complete the following:
Describe 3 distinct criteria that scientist use to study the atmosphere.

Hint: Read profile of the atmosphere in the textbook.

Why does air pressure change with increasing altitude above Earth’s surface?
Why does the height of the tropopause vary by latitude and throughout the year?
Which layer do you think is the most critical to humans and why? (This answer could vary based on your opinion. You must back up your opinion with a citation from source material)

Atmospheric layers and temperatures
Image source: Christopherson, Robert W. and Ginger H. Birkeland. (2018). Geosystems An Introduction to Physical Geography. Pearson.