atmosphere as a protectivecovering for us humans:
And We have made the heavens as a canopy wellguarded : yet do they
turn away from the Signs whichthese things (point to)! (21:32)
It is Allah Who has made for you the earth as a resting place, and the
sky as a canopy , and has given you shape- and made your shapes
beautiful,- and has provided for you Sustenance, of things pure and
good;- such is Allah your Lord. So Glory to Allah,the Lord of the
Worlds! (40:64)
So the Quran makes it quite clear that the earth's sky (atmosphere)
acts as a well protected covering forus humans. Furthermore if one
were to read the context of these verses, one will see that these
details are being given as asign for us humans, and that we should be
grateful and thankful for this (that this is a benefit for us, to help
us).
With the discoveries of modern day science, we are now able to verify
the above claims, of how the earth's atmosphere does protect us
humans, and how the earth's atmosphere is indeed like aprotected roof
over our heads.
The atmosphere isn't just a nice sky for you to stare at, it isn't
just there for the sake of being there, rather the atmosphere has an
important role and function, you can sort of say that behind the
scenes a lot of work is being done to insure things go smoothly on
earth which inturn benefits us!
Let us see what modern day science has to say concerning the earth's atmosphere:
The Ozone Layer:
The Earth's atmosphere is divided into several layers. The lowest
region, the troposphere, extends from the Earth's surface up to about
10 kilometers (km) in altitude. Virtually all human activities occur
in the troposphere. Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain on the planet,
is only about 9 km high. The next layer, the stratosphere , continues
from 10 km to about 50 km. Most commercial airline traffic occurs in
the lower part of the stratosphere.
Most atmospheric ozone is concentrated in a layer in the stratosphere
, about 15-30 kilometers above the Earth's surface. Ozone isa molecule
containing three oxygen atoms. It is blue in color and has a strong
odor. Normal oxygen, which we breathe, has two oxygen atoms andis
colorless and odorless. Ozone is much less common than normal oxygen.
Out of each 10 million air molecules, about 2 million are normal
oxygen, but only 3 are ozone.
However, even the small amount of ozone plays a key role in the
atmosphere. The ozone layer absorbs a portion ofthe radiation from the
sun, preventing it from reaching the planet's surface. Most
importantly,it absorbs the portion of ultraviolet light called UVB .
UVB has been linked to many harmful effects , including various types
of skin cancer, cataracts, and harm to some crops, certain materials,
and some forms of marine life.
At any given time, ozone molecules are constantly formed and destroyed
in the stratosphere. The total amount, however, remains relatively
stable. The concentration of the ozone layer can be thought of as a
stream's depth at a particular location. Although water is constantly
flowing in and out, the depth remains constant.
While ozone concentrations vary naturally with sunspots, the seasons,
and latitude, these processes are well understood and predictable.
Scientists have established records spanning several decades that
detail normal ozone levels during these natural cycles. Each natural
reduction in ozone levels has been followed by a recovery. Recently,
however, convincing scientific evidence has shown that the ozone
shield is being depleted well beyond changes due to natural processes.
http://www.epa.gov/ozone/science/sc_fact.html
Ozone is very rare in our atmosphere, averaging about three molecules
of ozone for every 10 million air molecules. In spite of this small
amount, ozone plays a vital role in the atmosphere. In the information
below, we present "the basics" about this important component of the
Earth's atmosphere.
Where is ozone found in the atmosphere?
Ozone is mainly found in two regions of the Earth's atmosphere. Most
ozone (about 90%) resides in a layer that begins between 6 and 10
miles (10 and 17 kilometers) above the Earth's surface and extendsup
to about 30 miles (50 kilometers). This region of the atmosphere is
called the stratosphere. The ozone in this region is commonly known as
the ozone layer. The remainingozone is in the lower region of the
atmosphere, which is commonly called the troposphere. The
figure(above) shows an example of how ozone is distributedin the
atmosphere......
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