The Major Constituents Table1. In addition to the major constituents listed in the Table I, a host of other gases such as neon helium, methane, krypton, zenon, and oxides of nitrogen together comprise about a hundredth of 1 percent. The chemical properties of these gases are of considerable interest to the biologist because some, such as nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide , are involved in life processes. Many of these are of great interest because of the way they affect the radiation budget of the Earth and hence the climate. The Earth is 35 o warmer than it would be without the green house effect and the Earth would be ice covered.
Air always contains some water.
Water is an important green house gas and significantly affects the physical behavior or the atmosphere. The transition from liquid to vapor and back transmit tremendous amounts of energy to the atmosphere. Ozone is found in minute amounts near the surface of the Earth, usually less than a few parts in a hundred million. If all of the ozone was brought down to the surface of the Earth it would form a layer 3 millimeters thick. It is a very strong absorber of ultra violet radiation.