Weather and Climate Overview

Study Notes

Weather: Current atmospheric conditions at a specific time and place, including temperature, wind speed, humidity, clouds, and precipitation. Changes rapidly.
Climate: Long-term weather patterns in a specific region, determined by analyzing weather data over extended periods. Changes slowly over long periods of time.

Troposphere: Lowest layer, stretching up to 10 km above sea level. Contains 75% of the atmosphere's air and 99% of its water vapor. Temperature and air pressure decrease with altitude.
Stratosphere: Lies above the troposphere, extending up to 50 km. Contains the ozone layer which absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the sun, causing temperature to increase with altitude.
Mesosphere: Above the stratosphere, reaching up to 85 km. Temperature cools as you ascend, with the coldest part of the atmosphere located here.
Thermosphere: Above the mesosphere, temperature increases with altitude due to absorption of high-energy radiation from the sun. Satellites orbit Earth within this layer. The aurora borealis (Northern Lights) and aurora australis (Southern Lights) occur in the thermosphere.
Exosphere: The outermost layer, where the atmosphere gradually fades into space. No definitive upper limit.
Ionosphere: A region within the mesosphere and thermosphere where high-energy radiation from the sun ionizes atoms, leading to the formation of charged particles.