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The Earth's atmosphere is divided up into 5 major layers:

Exosphere - The last layer and the thinnest. It goes all the way to 10,000 km above the Earth's surface.

Thermosphere - The thermosphere is next and the air is very thin here. Temperatures can get extremely hot in the thermosphere.

Mesosphere - The mesosphere covers the next 50 miles beyond the stratosphere. This is where most meteors burn up upon entry. The coldest place on Earth is at the top of the mesosphere.

Stratosphere - The stratosphere extends for the next 32 miles after the troposphere. Unlike the troposphere the stratosphere gets its heat by the Ozone Layer absorbing radiation from the sun. As a result, it gets warmer the further away you get from the Earth. Weather balloons go as high as the stratosphere.

Troposphere - The troposphere is the layer next to the ground or surface of the Earth. It covers around 30,000-50,000 feet high. This is where we live and even where planes fly. Around 80% of the mass of the atmosphere is in the troposphere. The troposphere is heated by the surface of the Earth.

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Kids learn about the science of the Earth's Atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, Oxygen, Nitrogen and more make up clouds and weather.

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The biosphere is all about life. Physical geographers use the term biosphere to describe our living world. All of the microbes, plants, and animals can be found somewhere in the biosphere. The biosphere extends to the upper areas of the atmosphere where birds and insects can be found. It also reaches to dark caves deep in the ground or to the bottom of the ocean at hydrothermal vents. The biosphere extends to any place that life of any kind might exist.

The biosphere is the crossroads of all the other earth science spheres you will study in class. Think about the possible interactions for a second.

- The land of the lithosphere interacts with the oceans of the hydrosphere at the coastlines. The coasts are teeming with life such as fish, birds, invertebrates, and mammals.

- The land also interacts with the air of the atmosphere and different climates. Rising mountains cool the air and force clouds to drop their water, leading to rain for forests of trees and rivers filled with fish.

- There is even interaction between the forces deep in the Earth and energy coming to the Earth from space. Volcanic vents under the seas are surrounded by life.

All of these interactions create the variety in our living world.

Many factors affect the biosphere and our life here on Earth. There are large factors such as the distance between the Earth and the Sun. If our planet were closer to the Sun, it might be too hot to support life. If we were further away, it might be too cold. The tilt of the Earth is just as important. Seasons and seasonal climate changes are direct results of the tilt of the Earth towards or away from the Sun. Summer months allow half of the planet to warm while the other half cools. Six months later, the temperatures shift in the opposite direction.

Smaller factors also act on the biosphere. If you were to watch a piece of land that was only one square mile (or kilometer), you would see the influence of climate, daily weather, and erosion. These smaller factors change the living space and organisms must react accordingly. For example, how would a family of gophers react if their burrow gets washed away in a mudslide? Even though humans are able to control much of their immediate environment, they are still vulnerable to weather and earthquakes.

The smallest of factors in the biosphere work on a molecular level. Chemical erosion is a great example of a landscape changing one molecule at a time. Oxidation and reduction reactions change the composition of rocks and organic materials. There is also biological erosion. Tiny organisms, such as bacteria and fungi, are constantly working to break down organic and inorganic materials.

Or search the sites for a specific topic.

Water, Water Everywhere (NASA/GSFC Video)

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The biosphere is all about life. Physical geographers use the term biosphere to describe our living world. All of the microbes, plants, and animals can be found somewhere in the biosphere. The biosphere extends to the upper areas of the atmosphere where birds and insects can be found.

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What is the sky? What is air? What is the atmosphere? The atmosphere is a thin layer of gases that surrounds the Earth. It seals the planet and protects us from the vacuum of space. It protects us from electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun and small objects flying through space such as meteoroids. Of course, it also holds the oxygen (O ₂) we all breathe to survive.

In the same way that there are layers inside of the Earth, there are also layers in the atmosphere. All of the layers interact with each other as the gases circulate around the planet. The lowest layers interact with the surface of the Earth while the highest layers interact with space. On your level, you may feel the atmosphere as a cool breeze. Other times you will feel it as a hot or humid day that seems to push on you from all sides.

When compared to the diameter of the Earth, the atmosphere is very thin. The thickness of the atmosphere is a balance between the gravity of the Earth and energetic molecules that want to rise and move towards space. The molecules in the upper layers of the atmosphere become excited as energy from the Sun hits the Earth. The molecules in the lower layers are cooler and under greater pressure.

If the Earth were larger, the atmosphere would be denser. The increased mass and related gravity of a larger planet would pull those gas molecules closer to the surface and pressure would increase.

The atmosphere is more than just layers of gases surrounding the planet. It is also a moving source of life for every creature of the planet. While the majority of the atmosphere is composed of nitrogen (N ₂) molecules, there are also oxygen and carbon dioxide (CO ₂) which plants and animals need to survive. You will also find ozone (O ₃) higher in the atmosphere which helps filter harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. The atmosphere also protects us from the vacuum and cold of space. Without our atmosphere, the Earth would be as barren and dead as the Moon or Mercury.

There is no single climate of the planet. Specialized climates are found in areas all over the planet and might include deserts, rainforests, or polar regions. The common trait of all of these climates is the atmosphere. The atmosphere circulates gases and particles between all of these regions.

The hot air from the equator eventually moves north or south to other climate regions. That warmer air combines with cooler air, mixing begins, and storms form. The constant mixing of the atmosphere maintains a stable system that helps organisms survive. Oxygen will never run out in one area of the planet and temperatures will not skyrocket in another. The atmosphere balances the possible extremes of the Earth and creates an overall stability.

A great example is seen in the way tropical cyclones (hurricanes) form over the Atlantic Ocean. Because of global atmospheric circulation, systems start over the Sahara Desert in Africa, move across the west coast of northern Africa, pick up large amounts of water as they pass over the warm Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, and finally dump all of the rain on the Caribbean or south eastern coast of the United States. In addition to the stormy weather, the atmosphere can also carry dust and particles from the Sahara to North America.

Or search the sites for a specific topic.

Earth's Atmosphere (NASA Explorer Schools Video)

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Geography4Kids.com! This tutorial introduces atmosphere basics. Other sections include climates, the biosphere, hydrosphere, the Earth, and ecosystems.

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Water is everywhere on Earth. About seventy percent of the surface of the Earth is covered by water. If you were an alien visiting the planet, you would see a giant blue sphere from space (especially on the Pacific Ocean side). Not only is water everywhere, but all life depends on water. The tiniest bacteria and the largest dinosaurs have all needed water. The hydrosphere is the world of water that surrounds all of us.

Because water is so important, it makes up an entire section of the earth sciences. You will probably hear the term " hydro" many times. The prefix "hydro" has origins in ancient Greek. You will learn about hydrologists that study water and the way it is used and circulated across the planet. Hydrology is the study of water. That water may be at the bottom of the ocean or in clouds found in the atmosphere. Anything related to water is a part of the hydrosphere.

Water is in the air, on the land, between the rocks, and in every living thing. Water, in its purest form, is the compound . There are two hydrogen (H) atoms bonded to one oxygen (O) atom. Generally, you won't find pure water. There are usually other compounds, ions, or particles mixed with water. While water may move and carry other substances with it, you need to remember that the small water molecules are the things that make life on Earth possible.

Liquid water makes the Earth a special place. Our planet has a very nice temperature range that allows water to remain in a liquid state. If we were a colder place like Pluto, all of the water would be permanently frozen and solid. On the other hand, if we were on a very hot planet, all of the water would be in a gas state. Water vapor and solid water are relatively useless to the organisms of Earth.

Things get interesting when you start to have a system with solid, liquid, and gas states of water. Because all of the states exist on Earth, they are all important to scientists. There are solids in the deep glaciers, liquids of the oceans, and the vapor state of clouds. While there might not be a lot of life in or on those glaciers, they will eventually melt. Once they melt, they start to affect all of the life on Earth. All of the physical states are equally important because they are all connected.

Let's say you're a water molecule. For this example we'll assume you are staying a water molecule and not combining with other compounds. We're going to have you move through the hydrologic cycle. You'll start by sitting on the surface of the Pacific Ocean. All of a sudden you are filled with energy, evaporate, and move up into the atmosphere.

Winds are moving and you see yourself flying over the ocean towards land. Things start to get cold and all water vapor around you begins to condense. You all clump together and now you're too heavy to stay in the clouds. You fall to the surface in a raindrop. If you are one of the first drops to fall, you might be absorbed into the soil. If you are at the end of a storm, you might wind up in runoff and drain into a river. From that river you could flow all the way back to the ocean and start your journey over again.

How much time does your journey take? Scientists think that if you are lucky enough to evaporate into a cloud, you spend about ten days floating around the atmosphere. If you're unlucky enough to be at the bottom of the ocean, percolate into an aquifer, or get stuck in a glacier, you might spend tens of thousands of years without returning to the hydrologic cycle. As of 2013, the oldest ice ever found was about 800,000 years old. That's a long time to stay out of the water cycle.

Or search the sites for a specific topic.

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Water is everywhere on Earth. About seventy percent of the surface of the Earth is covered by water. If you were an alien visiting the planet, you would see a giant blue sphere from space (especially on the Pacific Ocean side). Not only is water everywhere, but all life depends on water.

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DEFINITION OF EARTH'S SPHERES

The spheres are the four subsystems that make up the planet Earth. They are called spheres because they are round, just like the Earth. The four spheres are the geosphere (all the rock on Earth), hydrosphere (all the water on Earth), atmosphere (all the gases surrounding Earth), and biosphere (all the living things on Earth).
To better understand how the 4 spheres of the Earth work....

LET'S BREAK IT DOWN!

The four spheres interact.

The spheres interact to effect Earth's systems and processes, and they are constantly changing each other.

For example, ocean currents (hydrosphere) affect air temperature (atmosphere): The Gulf Stream is a powerful water current in the Atlantic Ocean. It's warm water moderates the temperatures on the east coast of the USA.

Another example of how the spheres affect each other is through erosion. Erosion happens in the desert when wind (atmosphere) shapes the sand in the geosphere. Water (hydrosphere) can also shape land, such as in the formation of the Grand Canyon.

EXAMPLES OF EARTH'S 4 SPHERES

VOCABULARY ON EARTH'S SPHERES

After pieces of the earth are broken down through weathering, those pieces are moved through Erosion. Erosion is the process of moving things from one place to another.

Naturally occurring rocks that look like a mushroom. They can be formed when sand gets carried by wind and hits the rock. This weathers the bottom of the rock more than the top.

A solid form of carbon dioxide that is very cold and turns directly from a solid to a gas.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS ON EARTH'S SPHERES

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Geosphere, Biosphere, Hydrosphere & Atmosphere | Fun Science Lesson

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Did you know that there are 4 spheres of earth that all interact together? Learn abuot Earth's four spheres for kids in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade!

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Some people use the term lithosphere to describe the geosphere. Depending on the definition of geosphere (which is debated by scientists), lithosphere can mean the same thing.

Aristotle, the Greek philosopher who lived from 384 - 322 BC, considered the geosphere to include the motion of earth, water, fire, and air.

The lithosphere is the part of the geosphere made up of landforms.

The pedosphere is the part of the geosphere made up of rocks, minerals, and soil.

The interior is the part of the geosphere made up of the solid earth.

The geosphere is constantly in motion because the tectonic plates are constantly in motion. These plates shift and move and cause landforms to rise, earthquakes to occur, and volcanoes to erupt.

The liquid rock, or molten rock found below the earth's surface is part of the geosphere.

The geosphere includes everything that looks like solid ground, including the ocean floors, sand in the deserts, rocks, mountains and every bit of land or formation on the continents.

The layer of the earth's crust covering the entire planet is referred to as the 'sima'.

The layer of earth that begins and ends where the plates begin and end is referred to as the 'sial'.

Scientific study related to the earth's geosphere can be broken down into specific disciplines including those covered in geology, geography, geochemistry, geomorphology, geophysics, glaciology, mineralogy, petrology, and volcanology.

There are eight major tectonic plates making up the earth's geosphere. They are constantly moving, but usually only a few centimeters each year,

An earthquake occurs when the tectonic plates of the geosphere move quickly. The tectonic plates are floating on a layer of molten rock called the asthenosphere.

As the continents move this is referred to as 'continental drift'.

The geosphere has processes that occur continually. This include the rock cycle, which occurs when rock melts, solidifies, erodes, deposits, is buried, and is recycled to do it all again.

The sedimentary rock in the geosphere is formed from the erosion, deposit, cementing, and compaction of rock.

The igneous rock in the geosphere is formed when molten rock cools and crystalizes.

The metamorphic rock is formed when rock is pressurized or heated.

Originally the continents of the earth were one. Scientists refer to this large continent as Pangaea. When it broke apart the eight major continents were formed. Proof of the super continent Pangaea exists in the rock formations on the west coast of Africa and South America's east coast, which match up.

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The geosphere is the earth's solid rock or rigid outer layer known as the crust. Without the geosphere it would not be possible for humans to live on the planet because there would be no solid ground. Included in the earth's geosphere are the rocks, minerals, molten rock, sand, and mountains.

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The Geosphere - Layers of the Earth - Science for Kids

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VideoLink lets you share videos on YouTube easily, without distracting third-party content or advertisements.

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The geosphere includes the rocks and minerals on Earth - from the molten rock and heavy metals in the deep interior of the planet to the sand on beaches and peaks of mountains. The geosphere also includes the abiotic (non-living) parts of soils and the skeletons of animals that may become fossilized over geologic time.

Beyond these parts, the geosphere is about processes. The processes of the rock cycle such as metamorphism, melting and solidification, weathering, erosion, deposition, and burial are responsible for the constant recycling of rocks on Earth between sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic states.

Sedimentary rocks are formed via weathering and transport of existing rocks, and then deposition, cementation, and compaction into sedimentary rock.

Igneous rocks are formed by the cooling and crystallization of molten rock.

Metamorphic rocks are formed when heat or pressure is applied to other rocks.

The primary agent driving these processes is the movement of Earth's tectonic plates, which creates mountains, volcanoes, and ocean basins. Changes in the rate that rocks are made and destroyed can have a profound effect on the planet. As the rate of plate tectonic movements has changed over geologic time scales, the rock cycle has changed as well, and these changes have been able to affected climate. For example, at times when the rate of plate movements has been high, there is more volcanic activity, which releases more particles into the atmosphere. Faster plate tectonic movements also mean more mountains are built in areas where plates converge. As rocks are uplifted into mountains, they start to erode and dissolve, sending sediments and nutrients into waterways and impacting the ecosystems for living things.

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The geosphere includes the rocks and minerals on Earth - from the molten rock and heavy metals in the deep interior of the planet to the sand on beaches and peaks of mountains. Beyond these parts, the geosphere is about the processes responsible for the constant recycling of rocks on Earth.

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The biosphere is all life on our planet. This includes all the things that are living as well as the remains of those that have died but have not yet decomposed. Even though the term "biosphere" was first coined in the 1920s by Russian scientist Vladimir I. Vernadsky, the thorough study of the biosphere's interactions with the rest of the planet happened decades later, as the awareness of Earth as a system grew in the scientific community. For hundreds of years, people have recognized some of the connections between living things and the climate (for example, cutting down the trees of a forest can change the temperature of the immediate area). However, the complex interrelationships between the biological and physical parts of the Earth system were not well understood until Charles Keeling began making detailed measurements of the amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over time.

In the 1960s, the connection between rising atmospheric carbon dioxide and global warming was becoming clear, and scientists began actively exploring the details of how carbon got into and out of the atmosphere via, largely, biological processes. Dr. Charles Keeling began making his now-famous measurements of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in 1958 from the top of Mauna Loa in Hawaii. Before Keeling began taking measurements, we didn't know how the collective photosynthesis of all the land plants in the Northern Hemisphere during the spring affects the atmosphere worldwide. In just a short amount of time, a fraction of a year, plants change the world. When it is spring and summer in the Northern Hemisphere, more plants are around to photosynthesize and extract carbon from the atmosphere, decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide by about three percent. When many of the Northern Hemisphere plants drop leaves and become dormant in the autumn and winter, there is less photosynthesis occurring, leading to more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This is a natural fluctuation.

Keeling's data tell another story too. At the close of each year, the carbon dioxide levels are a bit higher than they were the year before. The yearly wobbles caused by plant photosynthesis look like they are heading uphill on the graph because of an increase in carbon dioxide over several decades. These data were the first concrete evidence that the amount of carbon dioxide has been increasing. This overall rise in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is due to human impacts on the planet - mainly burning fossil fuels. The graph of Keeling's carbon dioxide data became known as the "Keeling Curve" and continues to serve as an illustration of the impact of the biosphere on the atmosphere, and the consequences in terms of global warming.

The Gaia Hypothesis, developed by James Lovelock in the 1970s, emphasized the importance of the biosphere on the regulation of Earth's climate. Lovelock's scientific research focused on how the Earth's atmosphere was affected by the biosphere. The main tenet of the Gaia Hypothesis is that our planet is analogous to a single cell - everything it has or could need is contained within the cell aside from energy that comes in from the Sun. Taken too literally, this may sound completely absurd.However, the general idea of Earth as a contained system is now widely accepted. This idea of Lovelock's dovetails well with the idea, formulated about a decade later in the 1980s, of Earth system science, that the parts of our planet are interconnected in a multitude of ways.

Today, interdisciplinary research combining biochemistry, geochemistry, biology, hydrology, and atmospheric science helps us to better understand the biosphere's role in the Earth system and, in particular, how biogeochemical cycles affect the Earth system. This understanding of the biosphere forms part of the framework utilized by supercomputer models, which describe and predict the Earth's climate.

This view of Earth highlights biological activity - specifically, the amount of photosynthesis happening. Higher chlorophyll concentrations in the ocean are indicated with green, yellow, and red colors. The amount of vegetation on land is indicated with increasingly deep shades of green. (SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard)

Since 1958, scientist Charles Keeling and others have measured the amount of carbon dioxide in Hawaii's atmosphere. The yearly fluctuations in carbon dioxide are due to seasonal plant growth, while the overall rise in carbon dioxide over many years is due to a combination of fossil fuel burning, deforestation, and cement production. (Windows to the Universe, with data from UCSD and NOAA)

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The Biosphere: An Integral Part of the Planet and its Climate

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The biosphere is all life on our planet. Interdisciplinary research combining biochemistry, geochemistry, biology, hydrology, and atmospheric science helps us to better understand the biosphere's role in the Earth system and, in particular, how biogeochemical cycles affect the Earth system.

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This web page contains hydrosphere facts for kids and is an excellent resource for anyone of any age looking to learn about the Earth's hydrosphere. Our goal is to provide you with accurate, up to date facts about the planet's hydrosphere. In addition to facts about the hydrosphere, we provide additional resources to help you with your research on this important resource.

The hydrosphere facts below will help you learn about the hydrosphere, what makes up the hydrosphere, how the hydrosphere was created, why the hydrosphere is important and other hydrosphere related facts. We hope these hydrosphere facts are interesting and help you learn more about this important aspect of the planet Earth.

If any of the below hydrosphere facts are inaccurate, please contact us and let us know.

1. The hydrosphere is a term used to describe the total mass of water found on Earth.

2. The hydrosphere includes both liquid and frozen water.

3. The hydrosphere includes both freshwater and saltwater.

4. The hydrosphere includes water in oceans, lakes, streams, ponds, groundwater, glaciers and other ice forms.

5. The Earth's hydrosphere contains around 366.3 sextillion gallons of water, that's 21 zeros!

6. The Earth's hydrosphere is estimated to be around 4 billion years old.

7. 97.5% of the Earth's hydrosphere is saltwater and 2.5% is freshwater.

8. Only 0.3% of the freshwater in the Earth's hydrosphere is easily accessible by humans. The rest is in the form ice (glaciers, snow and permafrost) and groundwater.

9. Water in the Earth's hydrosphere can be found in three states, and they are liquid, gas and solid.

10. Liquid water is the water you see in rivers, lakes and the ocean.

11. Water is in a liquid state when above 32 °F and below 212 °F.

12. Gas (vapor) water is the clouds you see in the sky and the steam from a hot bath.

13. Water is in a gas state when its temperature goes above 212 °F.

14. Solid water is the ice you put into your drink and the glaciers near the northern and southern polar regions.

15. Water is in a solid state when its temperature is below 32 °F.

16. The Earth's hydrosphere makes up 0.023% of the Earth's total mass.

17. The Earth's hydrosphere covers around 71% of the Earth's total surface area.

18. The Earth's hydrosphere is constantly changing due to the water cycle.

19. The water cycle is the process of transferring water from state to another or from one reservoir to another.

20. Human activities are having an affect on the Earth's hydrosphere and water cycle.

21. Humans divert and dam rivers, which are key to the water cycle.

22. Humans are removing water from groundwater sources faster than the water cycle can replace it.

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This web page contains hydrosphere facts for kids and is an excellent resource for anyone of any age looking to learn about the Earth's hydrosphere. Our goal is to provide you with accurate, up to date facts about the planet's hydrosphere.

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Media Credits

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

Illustrators

Editors

Producer

National Geographic Society

other

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hydrosphere | National Geographic Society

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Media Credits The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited. Illustrators Editors Producer National Geographic Society other

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The biosphere includes everything living on Earth it is also known as ecosphere. Currently the biosphere has a biomass (or amount of living things) at around 1900 giga tonnes of carbon. It is not certain exactly how thick the biosphere is, though scientists predict that it is around 12,500 meters. The biosphere extends to the upper areas of the atmosphere, including birds and insects.

In a general sense, biospheres are any closed, self-regulating systems containing ecosystems. This includes artificial biospheres such as Biosphere 2 and BIOS-3, and potentially ones on other planets or moons.

Origin of the term

The word "biosphere" was coined by geologist Eduard Suess in 1875. Which he difined as a place on Earth's surface where life dwells.

Earth's biosphere

The earliest known evidence of life in Earth includes biogenic graphite dated as far as 3.7 Billion years old. Life is scattered all throughout the surface of the Earth, from the polar ice caps to the equator, exhibits a life of some kind.

Extent of biological life

Almost all parts of the planet contains a life of some kind. Recent advances in microbiology concluded that microbes can live deep beneath the Earth's surface.

Images for kids

Stromatolite fossil estimated at 3.2-3.6 billion years old

Biosphere 2 in Arizona.

A beach scene on Earth, simultaneously showing the lithosphere (ground), hydrosphere (ocean) and atmosphere (air)

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The biosphere includes everything living on Earth it is also known as ecosphere. Currently the biosphere has a biomass (or amount of living things) at around 1900 giga tonnes of carbon. It is not certain exactly how thick the biosphere is, though scientists predict that it is around 12,500 meters.

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From Academic Kids

Template:Dablink

The biosphere is that part of a planet earth's outer shell-including air, land, and water-within which life occurs, and which biotic processes in turn alter or transform. From the broadest geophysiological point of view, the biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere (rocks), hydrosphere (water), and atmosphere (air). Earth is the only place where life is known to exist. This biosphere is generally believed to have evolved beginning at least some 3.5 billion years ago.

The term "biosphere" was coined by geologist Eduard Suess in 1875. The concept thus has a geological origin and is an indication of the impact of Darwin on the earth sciences. The biosphere's ecological context comes from the 1920s ( see Vladimir I. Vernadsky), preceding the 1935 introduction of the term "" by Sir Arthur Tansley (see ecology history). Vernadsky defined ecology as the science of the biosphere. The biosphere is an important concept in astronomy, geophysics, meteorology, biogeography, evolution, geology, geochemistry, and, generally speaking, all life and earth sciences.

Some life scientists and earth scientists use biosphere in a more limited sense. For example, geochemists define the biosphere as being the total sum of living organisms (the " biomass" or " biota" as referred to by biologists and ecologists). In this sense, the biosphere is but one of four separate components of the geochemical model, the other three being lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. The meaning used by geochemists is one of the consequences of specialization in modern science. Some might prefer the word ecosphere, coined in the 1960s, as all encompassing of both biological and physical components of the planet.

The Second International Conference on Closed Life Systems defined biospherics as the science and technology of analogs and models of Earth's biosphere; i.e., artificial Earth-like biospheres. Some also include the creation of artificial non-Earth biospheres-for example, human-centered biospheres or a native Martian biosphere-in the field of biospherics.

Some theorists have postulated that the Earth is poorly suited to life, although nearly every part of the planet, from the polar ice caps to the Equator, supports life of some kind. Indeed, recent advances in microbiology have demonstrated that microbes live deep beneath the Earth's terrestrial surface, and that the total mass of microbial life in so-called "uninhabitable zones" may, in biomass, exceed all animal and plant life on the surface.

The concept that the biosphere is itself a living organism, either actually or metaphorically, is known as Gaia theory.

Biosphere 1, Biosphere 2, Biosphere 3

When the word Biosphere is followed by a number, it is usually referring to a specific system. Thus:

1. Biosphere 1 - The planet Earth.

2. Biosphere 2 - A laboratory in Arizona which contains 3.15 acres (13,000 m²) of closed ecosystem.

3. ( ( (Biosphere 3 - Experiment conducted by Russians in 1967-8. [1]http://www.permanent.com/s-bios3.htm) [2]http://www.biospherics.org/russia.html) [3]http://www.biospheres.com/hisbios3fax.html)

--- See also: biome, cryosphere, Biosphere Reserve, noosphere, geosphere, eco-evolution, homeostasis, life support system

Biosphere 1

biosphere is divided into a number of biomes, inhabited by broadly similar flora and fauna. On land, biomes are separated primarily by latitude. Terrestrial biomes lying within the Arctic and Antarctic Circles are relatively barren of plant and animal life, while most of the more populus biomes lie near the Equator. Terrestrial organisms in temperate and arctic biomes have relatively small amounts of total biomass, smaller energy budgets, and display prominent adaptations to cold, including world-spanning migrations, social adaptations, homeothermy, estivation and multiple layers of insulation.

For important major components of Earth's biosphere, see: Ocean; Forest; Desert; Steppe; Lake; River. ca:Biosfera de:Biosphäre es:Biosfera fr:Biosphère id:Biosfer ja:生物圏nl:Biosfeer pl:Biosfera pt:Biosfera ro:Biosferă ru:Биосфера sv:Biosfär

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Template:Dablink The biosphere is that part of a planet earth's outer shell-including air, land, and water-within which life occurs, and which biotic processes in turn alter or transform. From the broadest geophysiological point of view, the biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere (rocks), hydrosphere (water), and atmosphere (air).