Earth's Atmosphere

Earth's atmosphere makes Earth a very unique place in the universe. If there wasn't an atmosphere around Earth there wouldn't be any chance that we would be able to live on this planet. Without the ozone layer of the atmosphere the sun's UV rays wouldn't be blocked, and without the green house effect the temperature would have drastic changes making it unbearable for anything to live. The temperatures could be extremely high and extremely low all in one day without this special element. With an atmosphere, if a meteoroid passes into the atmosphere it would burn out before it even got close to land and so it can't do any harm. Without an atmosphere, like on the moon, the meteoroids would collide with the planet and leave large craters. And they would be left there for billions of years because of static equilibrium. Static equilibrium is when there is no change, this is what the moon is. If you walk on the surface of the moon then your foot prints will be there for billions of years after. Earth on the other hand is dynamic equilibrium , meaning that there is change. If you step in a pile of wet mud your foot prints with wash away because of the change in the whether. Earth is very unique because of its atmosphere, without it there would be no way that anything could live on Earth.