The earth is a rocky planet surrounded by a thick atmosphere. Humans and millions of creatures live in the earth’s thick atmosphere. It is the outermost part of the earth. Although its thickness is not fixed, scientists estimate The thick atmosphere is at least 50 kilometers thick. It can be said that it is precisely because of the existence of the atmosphere that life on Earth can survive. This is because the atmosphere can isolate many asteroid attacks, and more importantly, it can block most of the radiation from the universe that is harmful to the human body.
It is also because the existence of the atmosphere can withstand too strong sunlight. The atmosphere is like a shield, which can reduce the ultraviolet radiation of sunlight to the survival and adaptation range of the earth’s biosphere, which is more conducive to the benign growth of the earth’s biosphere.
The total mass of the earth’s atmosphere is as high as 6000 trillion tons, which is about one millionth of the total mass of the earth. People have always wondered why the atmosphere of the earth is very light, why does the atmosphere not dissipate? In fact, Earth’s atmosphere is being stripped away by the solar wind all the time.
Just like Mars, Mars was a habitable planet billions of years ago, and they also had a thick atmosphere, but now the surface of Mars is very desolate, and even the atmosphere is only 1% of the atmosphere of the earth, and many people will I am very worried about whether the earth will be like Mars in hundreds of millions of years, and the atmosphere will almost disappear.
Scientists have conservatively calculated that the earth’s atmosphere will be stripped of more than 400 pounds every minute due to the solar wind. In this way, the earth will lose about 100,000 tons of atmosphere every year. In this way, does the earth’s atmosphere become less and less like Mars? In fact, don’t worry, the earth has a strong magnetic field and a complete ecological cycle system.
Every time the earth loses a part of its atmosphere, it will also replenish a part. The earth will capture some of the gas ions and molecules left behind in its orbit around the sun. Not only that, the earth will also produce gas, such as the photosynthesis carried out by plants. , converts carbon dioxide into carbon and oxygen, and animals and plants convert oxygen into carbon dioxide through respiration. It can be said that the earth’s atmosphere on the whole maintains a delicate balance in addition and subtraction, and has always been in a state of no more and no less.
So why does the atmosphere on Mars dissipate? This also refers to the inner core of Mars. Due to the gradual cooling of the inner core of Mars, they gradually cannot form a magnetic field. Without the protection of the magnetic field, the atmosphere is gradually stripped away by the solar wind mercilessly. Because of the existence of the magnetic field on the earth, the atmosphere will always accompany people. Because of its light mass, it is firmly trapped in the earth under the earth’s gravity, so the higher the altitude, the thinner the atmosphere. This is why people always experience hypoxia after reaching high altitudes.
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