Atmosphere Educational Posters, Charts, Calendars, & Books
for science & social studies classrooms, home schoolers, theme decor for office and studio.

Atmosphere (Gk. atmos = steam + staira = sphere) is the name for the layers of gases that surround the Earth and other planets or material bodies with sufficient mass for gravitational pull. The composition of the atmosphere allows different wavelengths of light to reach the planet surface, influencing the heating of the surface, which in turn causes climates to develop depending on the geography of the location, and a complex biodiversity that sustains human life.

The Earth’s atmosphere has taken millenia to evolve so that it supports the plant and animal life we know; it is only recently that humanity has acquired the technology to see and measure the atmosphere and study the effects of human activity over the last 200 years of industrial revolution. Since 1850, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels have increased by about 30%, and atmospheric methane (CH4) by more than 100%. Ozone (O3), in the upper atmosphere, reduces the amount of the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation that reaches Earth’s surface, and when present in high amounts in the lower atmosphere (troposphere), poses a health threat. There is also evidence the troposphere’s capacity to clean itself of greenhouse gases has decreased during the same period.

• animated .gif of seasonal changes.

Atmosphere: Weather & Climate

Poster Text: Nearly all weather events take place in the troposhere, the layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth's surface. The difference between weather and climate is that weather is a snapshot of the present conditions in the atmosphere, while climate is the history of that weather over a specified time. Six elements of weather are used to record the conditions of the atmosphere. 1. Temperature 2. Humidity 3. Wind 4. Barometric Pressure 5. Cloud Cover 6. Precipitation

• more weather posters
• more ecosphere posters

Rainforests

Poster Text: . . . Rainforest play major role in regulating our atmosphere. Vast amounts of carbon dioxide, a pollutant that contributes to the greenhouse effect, are absorbed during photosynthesis and stored as carbon in the tree's tissues.

• respiratory system posters
• peace posters

Cloud Posters & Charts-

Clouds are condensed vapor droplets or iced crystals suspended in the atmosphere above a planetary body.

Power plants, factories, transportation vehicles emit particulates, called aerosols, into the sky. These small particles often end up interacting with clouds, forming more, smaller droplets than those found in an unpolluted cloud. Because the aerosols prevent cloud water droplets from growing large enough to precipitate (rain), this type of pollution can reduce rainfall.

Aerosols, microscopic particles suspended in the atmosphere, also come from natural sources like volcanoes and sea spray.

The Man from Mars: Martians Enjoy Less Gravity But Must Withstand a Thinner Atmosphere with Extreme Temperatures.

We take our readers across space to meet the man from Mars ...

This illustration is by Frank R. Paul (1884-1963), who was trained in architecture and working as a cartoonist in the late 1920s, when the publisher of “Amazing Stories” tapped him as his artist and illustrator.

• book covers
• Biographical Dictionary of Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors