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Description on Mesosphere

Earth’s atmosphere is composed of several layers, and the mesosphere is one of them. It is necessary to understand what the mesosphere is, and the area of its extension.

The mesosphere is one of the layers of the atmosphere. It is a layer of the earth’s atmosphere that is located just above the stratosphere, and below the thermosphere or the ionosphere. The extension of this layer is from 50 to 80 km above the earth. It is essential to know about the layers of the earth’s atmosphere to understand their characteristics as useful as a part of the universe. Geography as a subject extensively deals with atmosphere as it is expected of the people of the world to know what mesosphere is and the definition of the mesosphere. The mesosphere is the third layer of the earth’s atmosphere.

Discussion on Mesosphere

The mesosphere is the coldest layer of Earth’s atmosphere, which reaches minus 130 degrees. The meteors are mostly present in the mesosphere. The space rocks and the hot metals come crashing on the ground after up. The mesosphere serves as protection to the earth as a result of the characteristics that it possesses. As has been discussed in the introductory section, the mesosphere is one of the five layers of the atmosphere, and it surrounds the planet like the other layers such as the stratosphere, ionosphere, thermosphere, troposphere, and exosphere. It is essential to know what mesosphere is and how it derived its name in the field of geography. The definition of Mesosphere is derived from the Greek words “mesos spharaia”, which can be translated to the literal word middle sphere. The mesosphere serves as an obstacle to the satellites, therefore creating trouble for the scientists to perform the study on space and space-related things. It is located approximately from 50 km to 85 km. However, the mesosphere appears quite high for airplanes and weather balloons. It is hard to study the mesosphere due to the inconvenient traits of this layer. It is a mystery that many facts are still unknown about this layer. 

The stratosphere combined with the mesosphere is termed the middle atmosphere. There is a question that lingers in the minds of the students of Geography, “What is Mesosphere?” The answer to this is very simple as it is a layer between the stratosphere and the thermosphere of the earth’s atmosphere. This layer is composed of nitrogen, chemicals, and 78% nitrogen. Many things are present in the mesosphere such as meteors, polar aurora, atmospheric tides, upper-atmospheric lightning, etc. However, there are some characteristics of the mesosphere that make it unique. It has some significant features such as planetary winds, atmospheric tides, waves of gravity, and mighty zonal winds.  

Facts on Mesosphere

In the previous section, the definition of mesosphere has been discussed briefly to get an idea of what mesosphere is, and how it plays a significant role as a layer of the earth’s atmosphere.  The mesosphere is difficult to explore and perform a study on, as it has a high atmospheric force that makes it impossible for the satellites and space equipment to stay in its orbit. It needs to be considered about the mesosphere that has zonal winds that blow from east to west, and north to south. One of the facts is that menopause is the coldest area of the mesosphere. 

What is the mesosphere? The answer is very simple, as the mesosphere serves as a protection for the earth. It plays an important role by destroying and burning up the meteors and asteroids before they cause harm after it reaches the earth’s surface. The meteors in the mesosphereget burnt up, however, they are often visible in the night sky. These burned-up meteors appear as shooting stars at night. There has been an estimation that around 40 tons of meteors try to reach the earth’s surface, and the mesosphere burns them up before any damage is caused due to the meteors. 

An interesting fact about the mesosphere is that it is the coldest layer that surrounds the earth’s surface. The temperature in the sky may fall much below zero degrees, thereby reaching -140 degrees Celsius, however during the warm season the temperature is often below -5 degrees. It has been observed that a bolt of unnatural lightning takes place in the layer. The definition of mesosphere should also consider the fact that it has clouds that can be seen from the poles of the earth during sunsets. Furthermore, to answer the question of what the mesosphere is, it is essential to understand that the mesosphere as one of the layers of the earth’s atmosphere plays a significant role in maintaining the climate and weather of the earth regularly and normally.

Conclusion

The mesosphere is an important layer of the earth’s atmosphere that plays a significant role in protecting the earth from harmful meteors and asteroids. Many things are not known about the layer; however, scientists and researchers are trying their best to study the layer with the help of innovative space equipment. It is the closest layer of the earth’s atmosphere and contains large quantities of nitrogen. In addition to this, the mesosphere is the coldest layer of the earth’s atmosphere and is composed of nitrogen and oxygen, and other chemicals.

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Frequently asked questions

Get answers to the most common queries related to the NDA Examination Preparation.

State the extension to the mesosphere in the earth’s atmosphere?

Ans: 50 to 80 km.

State the composition of the gasses in the mesosphere?

Ans: The mesosphere is composed of nitrogen, oxygen, and other chemicals.

How does the mesosphere protect the earth?

Ans: The mesosphere protects the earth’s surface by burning up the meteors before they can reach the earth&...Read full

Mention two types of winds that are present in the mesosphere?

Ans: Zonal winds and planetary winds are mainly present in the mesosphere.