The Earth from the Air: Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Product Information

mi; 30,000 ft) at the geographic poles to 17 km (11 mi; 56,000 ft) at the Equator, [21] with some variation due to weather. French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand and his devoted team have spent five years putting together this voluminous gallery, selecting 195 images from 100,000 photographs taken from helicopters in the skies over 75 countries.

New editorials by such renowned authors as Jane Goodall, Matthieu Ricard and Olivier Blond consider such perpetual issues as agriculture, climate and biodiversity, as well as the latest concerns - refugees, new technologies and environmental movements. Oceans are overfished, rainforests destroyed, but Nature can play as malevolent a role, through hurricanes, or volcanoes, which feature prominently both as beautiful perils or as forces of geological shape. The result of a five-year airborne odyssey across five continents and sixty countries, The Earth from the Air is the bestselling and most popular book of aerial photography ever published. The Earth from the Air is the bestselling and most popular book of aerial photography ever published.

Physical properties Comparison of the 1962 US Standard Atmosphere graph of geometric altitude against air density, pressure, the speed of sound and temperature with approximate altitudes of various objects. Every second, the Earth loses about 3 kg of hydrogen, 50 g of helium, and much smaller amounts of other constituents. This promotes vertical mixing (hence, the origin of its name in the Greek word τρόπος, tropos, meaning "turn").

The temperature of the thermosphere gradually increases with height and can rise as high as 1500 °C (2700 °F), though the gas molecules are so far apart that its temperature in the usual sense is not very meaningful. During the day the planetary boundary layer usually is well-mixed, whereas at night it becomes stably stratified with weak or intermittent mixing. The remaining gases are often referred to as trace gases, [12] among which are other greenhouse gases, principally carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. The geological record however shows a continuous relatively warm surface during the complete early temperature record of Earth – with the exception of one cold glacial phase about 2. Statistics play a secondary, but vital, role; the text that accompanies the shots (a paragraph each, with a short essay adorning every chapter), highlights the degree to which we have abused our Eden, providing a sobering adjunct to what can at times be mistaken for a planetary holiday brochure.For example, the Sun is approximately 6,000 K (5,730 °C; 10,340 °F), its radiation peaks near 500 nm, and is visible to the human eye. Breakdown of pyrite and volcanic eruptions release sulfur into the atmosphere, which reacts with oxygen and hence reduces its amount in the atmosphere. Although variations do occur, the temperature usually declines with increasing altitude in the troposphere because the troposphere is mostly heated through energy transfer from the surface. The average temperature of the atmosphere at Earth's surface is 14 °C (57 °F; 287 K) [34] or 15 °C (59 °F; 288 K), [35] depending on the reference.

Following the peak in vegetation, the drawdown of atmospheric CO 2 due to photosynthesis is apparent, particularly over the boreal forests. They have been published in a number of books together with text describing environmental concerns related to the photographs. This relatively homogeneous layer ends at the turbopause found at about 100 km (62 mi; 330,000 ft), the very edge of space itself as accepted by the FAI, which places it about 20 km (12 mi; 66,000 ft) above the mesopause. Sulfur compounds such as hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide (SO 2) may be derived from natural sources or from industrial air pollution.

The planetary boundary layer is the part of the troposphere that is closest to Earth's surface and is directly affected by it, mainly through turbulent diffusion. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.