10. The earth’s skin—aerosphere

by Xuefeng

The aerosphere occupies the space from the sea level to 1000 kilometers above. 99% of the atmosphere is concentrated within a space of 40 kilometers from the surface of the earth and above. The aerosphere is divided into troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, ionosphere, and exosphere according to the different chemical components within various altitude ranges.

The range about 18 kilometers above sea level belongs to the troposphere. 99% of the troposphere consists of vapor. The climatic changes and natural phenomena of thunder and lightning, wind and rain, drifting clouds, evening or morning glow, and rainbows all occur in the troposphere.

The atmosphere consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% of other gases (such as carbon dioxide, argon, and ozone).

The aerosphere is the skin of earth without which, the earth would be as bleak and desolate as the moon, the Mars, and other celestial bodies. There would be no life on earth. Then how did the earth’s skin come into being?

Some may say the aerosphere only occurs naturally. Then why is there no aerosphere on the moon and Mars?

The proportions of different gases in the atmosphere are just right. The increase or decrease of the proportions of any gases would be catastrophic to life on earth. For example, oxygen accounts for only 21% of the atmosphere, the absence of oxygen will mean the instant death of man and animals, and the reduced amount of oxygen will hinder the normal activities of man and animals. It is impossible to carry out normal activities on the summit of the Everest in Himalayas, because of the scarcity of oxygen. The spacecraft must be equipped with adequate oxygen for astronauts to carry out normal explorative activities. If oxygen in the atmosphere accounts for more than 21%, the people and animals in the low-latitude regions may suffer poisoning and the inflammables in the nature will be liable to spontaneous combustion. An iota of spark may trigger many things ablaze.

Apart from moisture, sunlight, and carbon dioxide, plants also need a large amount of nitrogen oxide for their growth. If the content of nitrogen is less than 78%, no matter how often or on what scales thunder and lightning may occur, there won’t be enough nitrogen oxide created for the absorption of plants on the surface of the earth.

The amount of carbon dioxide accounts for less than one percent of the atmosphere. The small amount of carbon dioxide is the core factor of greenhouse effect, which maintains the global temperature between -21 degrees and 14 degrees Celsius. Without carbon dioxide, the ocean will be frozen up, and the plants will die out. However, with too much carbon dioxide, man and animals may die of poisoning and the temperature of the earth may rise dramatically.

 We may ask: how did atmosphere and the accurate proportions within the atmosphere come about? We cannot always attribute the inexplicable phenomena to “Naturally formed as a matter of course”, can we? Without the careful attention of the parents, can a person grow up naturally after he was born? Is the lighting electricity we use generated naturally? Does the plane, weighing dozens of tons fly naturally in the sky? Can we naturally reap a bumper harvest by simply throwing some seeds on the ground without hoeing the weeds, fertilization, and watering?

There is absolutely nothing involuntary in the universe and everything is managed and manipulated by “someone" or “some kind of wisdom”. What are you suspicious about then?