Atmosphere of Earth Atmosphere of Earth The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, commonly known as air, that surrounds the planet Earth and is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for liquid water to exist on the Earth's surface, absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention (greenhouse effect), and reducing temperature extremes between day and night (the diurnal temperature variation). By volume, dry air contains 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases. Air also contains a variable amount of water
Regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act in the climate system. Once emitted into the atmosphere, GHGs influence the Earth's energy balance for a period of decades to centuries. Consistent with their long-lasting impacts, the IPCC found that even if the concentrations of all GHGs had been kept constant at year 2000 levels, a further warming of approximately 0.1C per decade would be expected. The fact that GHGs are long-lived in the atmosphere also means that they become well mixed across the globe – hence the global nature of the problem. After considering the scientific evidence before her, Administrator Jackson found that greenhouse gases could be reasonably