<p>I think, as David Hanmen alluded to, you have misread the article.</p>
<p>In laymen's terms (though not fully technically accurate), it describes that the height of the ozone layer should increase as the earth warms.</p>
<p>Think about it this way- when matter warms, it (generally) expands. This also applies to the atmosphere. When the atmosphere warms, it expands... upward. So the ozone layer is much further from the ground in the tropics where it is warm, than near the poles where it is cold.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-14T00:38:11.663Z
2021-11-14T00:38:11.663Z
BarocliniCplusplus
<p><a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/earth-lower-atmosphere-rising-climate-change-troposphere" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Earth’s lower atmosphere is rising due to climate change</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Temperature is the driving force behind this change, says Jane Liu, an environmental scientist at the University of Toronto. The troposphere varies in height around the world, reaching as high as 20 kilometers in the tropics and as low as seven kilometers near the poles. During the year, the upper boundary of the troposphere — called the tropopause — naturally rises and falls with the seasons as air expands in the heat and contracts in the cold. But as greenhouse gases trap more and more heat in the atmosphere, the troposphere is expanding higher into the atmosphere</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Why do the lowest gases on earth descend? Didn't that always happen? Is there any physical explanation or an article about this?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-13T14:58:25.177Z
I suspect you have misread the linked article. That article talks about the tropopause height.
David Hammen
<meteorology><atmosphere><terminology>
Gases descending from atmospheres
Behemooth
# Gases descending from atmospheres

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-11-13)

[Earth’s lower atmosphere is rising due to climate change](https://www.sciencenews.org/article/earth-lower-atmosphere-rising-climate-change-troposphere)

> Temperature is the driving force behind this change, says Jane Liu, an environmental scientist at the University of Toronto. The troposphere varies in height around the world, reaching as high as 20 kilometers in the tropics and as low as seven kilometers near the poles. During the year, the upper boundary of the troposphere — called the tropopause — naturally rises and falls with the seasons as air expands in the heat and contracts in the cold. But as greenhouse gases trap more and more heat in the atmosphere, the troposphere is expanding higher into the atmosphere

Why do the lowest gases on earth descend? Didn't that always happen? Is there any physical explanation or an article about this?

**Tags:** meteorology, atmosphere, terminology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I suspect you have misread the linked article. That article talks about the tropopause height.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-11-14. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

I think, as username_1 Hanmen alluded to, you have misread the article.

In laymen's terms (though not fully technically accurate), it describes that the height of the ozone layer should increase as the earth warms.

Think about it this way- when matter warms, it (generally) expands. This also applies to the atmosphere. When the atmosphere warms, it expands... upward. So the ozone layer is much further from the ground in the tropics where it is warm, than near the poles where it is cold.


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