How do the Iayers of the atmosphere protect us?
1 Answer
Jan 17, 2016
It filters out undesirable radiation.
Explanation:
The sun emits many types of harmful radiation. The picture below is a depiction of it as it is called the "solar wind."
Our first line of defense is the earth's magnetosphere. It deflects oncoming radiation around the earth. However, it does not deflect all radiation.
The upper layers of our atmosphere actually reflect a certain amount of radiation back into space, ultra-violet and infra-red being the key ones.
Finally there is the ozone layer. This is a layer of oxygen. Oxygen usually exists as two atoms of oxygen bound together. Ozone is a single atom of oxygen. This ozone layer is particularly crucial in protecting us from incoming ultra-violet light.
