Troposphere

The layer of our atmosphere closest to the surface of Earth is called the troposphere. “Tropos” means change. This layer gets its name from the weather that is constantly changing and mixing up the gases in this part of our atmosphere.

The troposphere is between 8 and 14 kilometers thick depending on where you are on Earth. It’s thinnest at the North and South Pole.

The troposphere contains three-quarters of the mass of the entire atmosphere.

The lowest layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere, begins at Earth’s surface and reaches up to 7 kilometers at the poles and to about 17–18 kilometers at the equator.

Since most of the air is located closest to Earth’s surface, the troposphere is the densest layer of the atmosphere.

Up to 75 percent of the mass of the atmosphere is in the troposphere.