15.0 Earth’s Atmosphere

Did you ever see such an awesome sight? This picture may not look real, but it’s an actual photo of the night sky. Unless you live far north or south of the equator, you probably never saw the sky look like this. What causes the fantastic lights? The answer is Earth’s atmosphere.

Lights like these may be among the most spectacular effects of Earth’s atmosphere. But they certainly aren’t the most important for life on Earth. Without the atmosphere, Earth would be nothing but a bare rock orbiting the Sun. It would be more like the Moon than the green planet we know. To learn more about the amazing air around us, keep reading. This chapter is all about Earth’s atmosphere.