The existence of an atmosphere that covers the Earth has a big role in life. It consists of five layers of gas in the atmosphere, including the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere. The troposphere is the lowest layer closest to the surface of the Earth with an average thickness of 11 km (16 km thickness around the equator and 7 – 8 km thickness in the polar area). Many natural symptoms occur in this layer, including several examples of phenomena that occur in other atmospheric layers. (Also read: 13 Effects of Natural Disasters on The Ocean That Can Cause Harm).
Natural Phenomena that Occurs in the Troposphere
Many natural phenomena occur in this layer because there is a decrease in temperature which absorbs a little short-wave radiation from the sun and the soil surface provides heat through the process of conduction, turbulence, convection, condensation, and advection. (Also read: The Danger of Underwater Volcano People Should Be Aware Of). Examples of natural symptoms that commonly occur in this layer are rain, lightning, wind, and the greenhouse effect.
- Rain
Rain is the process of water falling from the sky. At first glance, it looks simple but there is a long process happened so that rain can occur. Rain is the climax of a hydrological cycle. The following is the process before the occurrence of rain:
- Evaporation of water that exists on the Earth due to the heat of the sun from the types of biomes in the world that contain water from both freshwater ecosystem types and the tropical marine ecological system.
- The formation of clouds from water vapor that join together becomes dense.
- Wind will bring the formed clouds and merge into larger clouds and be carried to a higher place by the wind. The higher the temperature, the colder it is, which can make clouds turn into ice or water grains. When the cloud is unable to hold water, the ice grains will fall to the Earth.
- Rain or snow occurs. If it drops at the temperature of the Earth’s hot surface, the ice grains will melt and rain will fall. If it goes down in the cold, the Earth’s hemisphere turns to snow.
Following are the forms of natural rainfall that occur specifically in the tropics:
- Frontal rain or rainstorm. As a result of two types of air that have different temperatures, namely the density of hot air and the density of cold air so that it condenses. The mass of warm moist air is forced to move to a place where the temperature is lower with greater air density.
- Zenithal rain. Occurs at the zenith sun time usually in the tropics between latitude 23.50 LU – 23.50 Usually caused by rising air due to high heating.
- Orographic rain. Rain that falls on the slopes that are passed through is also a supplier of lakes, dams, and rivers.
- Lightning
Lightning is a flow or electric jump in the form of light between clouds and an electrically charged Earth opposite.
- Wind
Wind is air that moves or blows from the higher pressure areas to the lower pressure areas. Following are the natural symptoms of the wind that occurs on Earth:
- Passat wind. Wind throughout the year in subtropical regions to the tropics. Eastern Passat winds occur in the northern regions of the Earth, while southeast Passat winds occur in the southern part of the Earth.
- Monsoon. The wind changes direction in the opposite direction every year.
- Land wind. Winds that blow from land to sea are often used by traditional fishermen at night to find fish.
- Sea breeze. The wind that blows from the sea to the land that occurs during the day.
- Wind mountain. A wind that blows from the mountain to the valley at night.
- Valley breeze. Winds that blow from valley to mountain that occur during the day.
- Fohn wind. Hot, dry, and strong winds that occur when the movement of air masses that climb the mountains is more than 200 meters which then experience condensation and move down the mountains at high speed. In Indonesia, this wind has a different name in each region, for example in Deli, known as the bohorok wind, in Cirebon it is called a beetle wind, in Pasuruan it is called gending wind, and in Biak it is called the wambraw wind.
- Greenhouse Effect
The events of the greenhouse effect cause the Earth to warm. The process of the greenhouse effect begins with solar radiation coming into the Earth in the form of short waves that turn into long waves and when it reaches the surface of the Earth, some are reflected back into the atmosphere and some are blocked by gases in the atmosphere. The accumulation of solar radiation trapped in the atmosphere causes the Earth’s temperature to warm up and gradually global warming occurs.
Impact of the greenhouse effect:
- Melting of ice and glaciers throughout the world.
- Season shift.
- Increased sea level.
- The occurrence of the El-Nino wind.
So, that is the explanation of natural phenomena that occurs in the troposphere. Hopefully it can be useful.