Earth's magnetic field the charged particles of the solar wind and cosmic rays that would otherwise strip away the upper atmosphere, including the ozone layer that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. The Earth's magnetic field serves to deflect most of the solar wind, whose charged particles would otherwise strip away the ozone layer that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. One stripping mechanism is for gas to be caught in bubbles of magnetic field, which are ripped off by solar winds. Calculations of the loss of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere of Mars, resulting from scavenging of ions by the
Atmospheric Chemistry Suite than the PFS spectrometer of Mars Express orbiter. Of particular interest to this astrobiology mission, is the detection and characterization of the atmospheric methane (), as it may be of geological or biological nature. Large differences in the abundances were measured between observations taken in 2003, 2006, and on 2014 NASA reported that the "Curiosity" rover detected a tenfold increase ('spike') in methane in the atmosphere in late 2013 and early 2014. This suggestes that the methane was locally concentrated and is probably seasonal. Because methane on Mars would quickly break down due to ultraviolet radiation from the Sun and