Professor Helen Czerski’s lecture series at Gresham College, titled "Notes from a Large Planet," serves as a definitive citizen’s guide to the Earth, seeking to replace environmental helplessness with scientific agency. Central to her exploration is the atmosphere, an "ocean of air" that was famously probed during the 19th-century "era of balloon mania".
While the Royal Society initially shunned balloon science as a frivolous pursuit associated with the "drunken parties" of London's pleasure gardens, meteorologist James Glaisher eventually proved its value by reaching a record-breaking seven-mile altitude in 1862—losing consciousness in the thin, freezing air to document the atmosphere's vertical profile. This history underscores that the atmosphere is not an empty void but a "wonderful piece of machinery" from which the fabric of organic life is renewed.
Chemically, this invisible ocean is kept "simple" by a natural cleaner known as the hydroxyl radical, which acts as a disinfectant by breaking down complex organic pollutants into simpler molecules. Driven by the "spotlight" of the sun, these radicals react in fractions of a second to scrub the air, though this process is heavily influenced by the presence of particulates. Naturally occurring Saharan dust fertilizes distant continents like South America, yet human-induced particulates, such as sulfur from shipping lanes, have a direct and measurable impact on weather patterns. When global shipping regulations slashed sulfur emissions in 2020, lightning strikes in busy lanes plummeted by 76%, proving the direct link between human activity and cloud physics.
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Physically, the atmosphere is a substantial, heavy force, exerting pressure equivalent to a ten-meter column of water—a weight that is the fundamental reason liquid oceans can exist on Earth. It also functions as the planet's "gatekeeper for light," utilizing specific "atmospheric windows" to allow visible light in while permitting infrared heat to escape.
However, the accumulation of carbon dioxide and methane is effectively closing these windows, trapping energy and driving the climate crisis. While the carbon budget for the 1.5°C goal is nearly exhausted, Czerski highlights a moment of optimism from China, where rapid renewable energy expansion has recently decoupled economic growth from carbon emissions, showing that it is possible to turn the curve.
To monitor this dynamic system, scientists still rely on a surprisingly analog global network of 1,200 "radio sondes"—stretchy balloons released simultaneously twice a day across the world to "ground truth" weather models. This data is essential because humans struggle to inhabit the atmosphere without disrupting it; even the rotors of a helicopter are too disruptive for precise measurements. Ultimately, the atmosphere is our largest shared heritage and the world’s "connective tissue". Because the air is so well-mixed over time, every person on Earth likely inhales a few molecules of Julius Caesar’s last breath, illustrating a profound physical connection that spans millennia and continents. By understanding the atmosphere as a dynamic structure rather than a place called "away," society can begin to respect the thin, glowing shell that mediates our entire existence.
