Sci/Tech Air Pollution Is a Leading Cause of Cancer

[Varine]

There is still only one kind of biosphere... the lithosphere isn't a different biosphere.

 

[FireCat]

What the Biosphere Isn't
Because the earth is so big, there are almost limitless ways to study it. One of the simplest means by which science categorizes different aspects of the earth is by dividing it into 'spheres:'

The lithosphere consists of the earth's crust and upper part of its mantle.
The atmosphere is what we call 'the air,' or the mixture of gases held around the earth by its gravitational pull.
The hydrosphere is the sum total of all of earth's water in any form, whether it's on the ground as liquid or ice, or in the clouds as water vapor.

All of these spheres interact with one another through many different means such as the water cycle and biogeochemical cycles like the carbon and nitrogen cycles.

What the Biosphere Is

The biosphere is the fourth sphere, and consists of the places where life can be found. Since life exists in the air, on and in the earth, and on and in water, the biosphere overlaps, connects, and influences all of the other spheres - and they all affect the biosphere.

Considering the sheer number of organisms on earth, however, the biosphere is actually fairly small in size. Most of the biosphere's life is found between 500 meters below the surface of the ocean and six kilometers above the surface of the earth, although there are organisms, especially microorganisms, able to live at much higher and lower depths. The biosphere is quite old; its creation coincides with the appearance of the first bacteria, about 3.5 billion years ago. As life has changed and become more complex, so has the biosphere.

Oh, I was thinking of this.

That's a fake Biosphere!

 

[KaerfNomekop]

The biosphere is the fourth sphere, and consists of the places where life can be found.

So technically there's only one.

 

[Varine]

So technically there's only one.

Yeah, I don't understand what hell he's trying to get at.

Technically I think that's a biodome of sorts, but it's not really a dome.