The Atmosphere

Troposphere: Contains 75% of the atmosphere's mass and 99% of the water vapour and aerosols. The average depth is about 17 km, however in tropical areas of the Earth it is around 20km, and in the poles it is closer to 7 km. Most weather conditions occur within this region of the atmosphere. The temperature drops quite drastically the higher up you go in the troposphere as well as the density and the air pressure.

Stratosphere: Right above the troposphere and extends to about 50 km. It is both drier and less dense then the troposphere. This is often where flying equipment reaches its height. There are very few to no clouds in this region due to the lack of water vapour. Due to the lack of vertical convection in this layer it means that chemicals often stay there for very long periods of time.

Ozone Layer: The ozone layer if made up of three oxygen molecules, unlike the air that we breathe in which is made up of only two. When enough of these molecules are present it causes a pale blue gas to form. It has the same chemical structure in all layers of the atmosphere however depending on its location it is either good or bad ozone. The bad ozone occurs in the troposphere. It is an air pollutant that damages humans, vegetation and other materials. In the stratosphere is the good ozone which protects the life on earth from harmful UV rays. There is much worry about the build up of bad ozone, and the deteriorating of the good ozone.