Question: Fire is a significant source of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.: Answer: The carbon dioxide released by fires around the world is roughly equivalent to 50 percent of the carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels.

Question: Earth’s atmosphere extends about 50 miles out into space.: Answer: By common definition, space begins about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Earth. However, the planet’s atmosphere extends much farther, to about 430 miles (690 kilometers) from the surface.

Question: The troposphere is above the stratosphere in Earth’s atmosphere.: Answer: Scientists divide the atmosphere into five regions, or layers. The layer closest to Earth is the troposphere. It extends up to about 6 miles above Earth’s surface. The stratosphere is above it.

Question: The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has grown recently.: Answer: Over the last decades of the 20th century to the present, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased dramatically, mostly because of the burning of fossil fuels.

Question: Space travel begins outside Earth’s atmosphere.: Answer: Space exploration includes any voyages outside the atmosphere of the Earth. More than 5,000 spacecraft have been launched since 1957. These include manned spacecraft, space probes, and satellites.

Question: Greenhouse gases deflect radiation.: Answer: A greenhouse gas is any gas in the atmosphere that absorbs some of the infrared radiation that naturally escapes into space from Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere.

Question: Earth is the only planet with an atmosphere.: Answer: Several planets in our solar system have atmospheres, but none would allow life as we know it.

Diagram of a storm. updraft, downdraft, cumulonimbus cloud, thunderstorm, air, atmosphere

The Atmosphere: Fact or Fiction?

Is Earth the only planet with an atmosphere? From carbon dioxide to space travel, clear the air in this quiz about Earth’s atmosphere.

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Encyclop?dia Britannica, Inc.

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