• Kyoto and Climate Change
• Our Climate
• Atmosphere
• Greenhouse Gases
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• Greenhouse Effect
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Atmosphere

The atmosphere´s vertical expansion is about 300 km and it is divided into five spheres (exosphere, thermosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere and troposphere). The latter two namely the stratosphere (12 to 50 km altitude) and the troposphere (up to 12 km altitude) are of significance for climatic occurrences. Cloud and precipitation processes take place in the troposphere.

The atmosphere mainly consists of a about 78 percent nitrogen (N₂) and app. 21 percent oxygen (O₂). Besides these main components, the atmosphere also contains water vapour and various trace gases, such as argon (Ar), ozone (O₃), or carbon dioxide (CO₂) which together amount to less than 1 percent.

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