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Jun 16, 2018 · The most abundant gases in the atmosphere depend on temperature, altitude and water, but they are usually nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and carbon dioxide.
- Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
- Abundance of Gases in The Atmosphere
- Why Is Important to Know The Abundance of gases?
- Sources
This table lists the eleven most abundant gases in the lower portion of Earth's atmosphere (up to 25 km). While the percentage of nitrogen and oxygen are fairly stable, the amount of greenhouse gases changes and depends on location. Water vapor is extremely variable. In arid or extremely cold regions, water vapor may be nearly absent. In warm, trop...
It's important to know which gas is most abundant, what the other gases are in the Earth's atmosphere, and how the composition of air changes with altitude and over time for multiple reasons. The information helps us understand and predict the weather. The amount of water vapor in the air is particularly relevant to weather forecasting. The gas com...
Lide, David R. (1996). Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. CRC. Boca Raton, FL.Wallace, John M.; Hobbs, Peter V. (2006). Atmospheric Science: An Introductory Survey(2nd ed.). Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-12-732951-2.- Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
- Nitrogen (78.1%) While nitrogen is the most abundant gas in Earth’s atmosphere, it only makes up 0.005% of Earth’s crust in weight (David Darling). Nitrogen is incredibly stable and requires a lot of energy to change forms.
- Oxygen (20.9%) Earth has the conditions for life to flourish. Oxygen is essential to human life as our lungs respire oxygen and uses it in metabolism.
- Argon (0.93%) As an inert gas, argon doesn’t bond or do much in the atmosphere. This is why there’s no argon cycle. But we have nitrogen and carbon because of their ability to bond with other elements.
- Carbon Dioxide (0.04%) Carbon is the most important element for building molecules essential for living things. As you can see from the long-term carbon cycle, carbon takes up various forms such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and glucose (C6H12O6).
Mar 18, 2024 · Water vapor is the most abundant of the greenhouse gases. While it is not directly produced by industrial activity, a warming atmosphere will become more humid. The net effect of an increase in water vapor on our climate is nuanced.
Jul 2, 2024 · In short, the atmosphere is the protective bubble in which we live. This protective bubble consists of several gases (listed in the table below), with the top four making up 99.998% of all gases. Of the dry composition of the atmosphere, nitrogen by far is the most common.
Feb 8, 2022 · Water vapor is Earth’s most abundant greenhouse gas. It’s responsible for about half of Earth’s greenhouse effect — the process that occurs when gases in Earth’s atmosphere trap the Sun’s heat. Greenhouse gases keep our planet livable.
The atmospheric gases fall into three abundance categories: major, minor, and trace. Nitrogen, the most abundant component, has accumulated over time as a result of its geochemical inertness; a very small fraction of it passes into the other phases as a result of biological activity and natural fixation by lightning.