1 The Earth’s atmosphere and winds

Obviously, the Earth’s atmosphere is hugely important in sustaining life by providing and recycling the main gases oxygen and nitrogen, recycling water from seas to rain and back again, and providing warmth and stable temperatures. It also protects life from potentially harmful effects from space such as radioactivity, heat and other radiation, and to a degree from impact with solid bodies such as meteorites and other cosmic detritus. In this section, the focus will be on its behaviour in terms of fluids, statics and dynamics.