Mesosphere

Uncommon card · No. 192624

The mesosphere (; from Ancient Greek μέσος (mésos) 'middle' and -sphere) is the third layer of the atmosphere, directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere. In the mesosphere, temperature increases with height (due to particle velocity), but the average temperature decreases as altitude increases. This characteristic is used to define limits,: it begins at the top of the stratosphere (sometimes called the stratopause), and ends at the mesopause, which is the coldest part of Earth's atmosphere, with temperatures below −143 °C (−225 °F; 130 K). The exact upper and lower boundaries of the mesosphere vary with latitude and with season (higher in winter and at the tropics, lower in summer and at the poles), but the lower boundary is usually located at altitudes from 47 to 51 km (29 to 32 mi; 154,000 to 167,000 ft) above sea level, and the upper boundary (the mesopause) is usually from 85 to 100 km (53 to 62 mi; 279,000 to 328,000 ft). The stratosphere and mesosphere...

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