• Question: what is atmosphere made of?

    Asked by 11chrans to James, Marcus, Martin, Rob, Suzanne on 16 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Marcus Gallagher-Jones

      Marcus Gallagher-Jones answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      Nitrogen gas mostly, about 78% in fact. Then Oxygen which is around 21%. After that it’s argon at about 0.9% and Carbon dioxide at 0.039% and then other gases at very trace levels. This is without including water which makes up roughly 1% of the total volume. Now you may know that carbon dioxide is at a very trace level, and methane even more so. Yet these two gases have a huge role to play in regulating the temperature of the planet. It only takes a very slight increase in either to tip the balance, which is quite startling really.

    • Photo: Martin Zaltz Austwick

      Martin Zaltz Austwick answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      We think about how important oxygen is to live, but it’s very reactive! If the atmosphere was mostly oxygen, there would be a lot more explosions. Nitrogen is boring but it means things aren’t blowing up all the time.

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