The Earth's Atmosphere is Engineered Precisely to Support Life

• If greater: too much fire destruction
• If less: too little nitrogen fixing in the soil (for plant life to be sustained)

Carbon Dioxide and Water Vapor Levels in the Atmosphere:

• If greater: runaway greenhouse effect would occur
• If less: insufficient greenhouse effect

Oxygen to Nitrogen Ratio in the Atmosphere:

• If changed by any significant degree, life functions could not be sustained

Ozone Levels in the Atmosphere:

• If greater: surface temperatures would be too low to sustain life
• If less: surface temperatures would be too high and there would be too much UV radiation at the planet's surface

Albedo (ratio of reflected light to total amount falling on surface):

• If greater: runaway ice age would develop
• If less: runaway greenhouse effect would develop

"Temperature is a measure of heat. Only about one two-billionth of the sun's heat enters the atmosphere. The rest is lost in space. About 34 per cent of the sunlight that enters the atmosphere is reflected back into space. Clouds cause most of this reflection. Heat from the ground and oceans warm the atmosphere. The atmosphere absorbs the heat and prevents it from easily passing back into space. This causes what we call the greenhouse effect." {Note: this impacts photosynthesis - see section on Color of the Sun}

Weather and Climate