【People's Education Press】High School Geography - Compulsory Course I: Understanding the Atmosphere Through 'Cosmic Visitors': Lessons from High-Altitude Skydiving

In 2012, Austrian athlete Felix Baumgartner jumped from an altitude of 39 kilometers. This feat was not only a breakthrough in extreme sports, but also a profound exploration by humanity intoatmospheric heterogeneitythe depth of exploration. At this altitude, the atmosphere is no longer the familiar 'transparent backdrop' we take for granted—it has become a deadly and highly challenging environment.

Core Insight: The Atmosphere as Earth’s 'Life Shield'

Extreme Environmental Differences: At 39 kilometers, atmospheric pressure is less than 1% of that at sea level. In such conditions, bodily fluids can boil at normal body temperature, necessitating a spacesuit to maintain external pressure.
The Physics Behind Breaking the Sound Barrier: Due to the extremely thin air at high altitudes, air resistance is nearly zero. Without propulsion, Baumgartner reached a speed of 1,342 km/h in just 40 seconds, successfully breaking the sound barrier.
The Atmosphere as a Protective Barrier: Through the capsule, you see a black sky rather than blue. This is because the thin air at high altitudes scatters sunlight very weakly—revealing how the atmosphere creates Earth’s habitable visual environment through physical scattering.

The Atmosphere’s 'Sun Umbrella' and 'Warm Blanket'

The atmosphere not only supplies oxygen, but more importantly acts as Earth’s shield, blocking intense cosmic rays and ultraviolet radiation. It also regulates surface temperature differences via the greenhouse effect, preventing Earth from experiencing the extreme day-night temperature swings seen on the Moon.

QUESTION 1

[Short Answer] [Short Answer] [Reading Context: On October 14, 2012, Austrian 'falling man' Baumgartner ascended in a capsule over the southwestern United States. ... Why did Baumgartner need a specialized spacesuit?] How does the atmosphere at 39 km differ from that at ground level? Why did Baumgartner need a specially designed spacesuit?

QUESTION 2

[Short Answer] [Short Answer] What is the relationship among temperature, pressure, and wind flow?

QUESTION 3

[Short Answer] [Short Answer] 2. Which layer of the atmosphere enables radio communication?

QUESTION 4

[Short Answer] [Short Answer] [Image: Fig 3.3, 3.4, 3.5 showing sand-covered fields vs bare fields] Analyze how a layer of gravel affects water infiltration.

QUESTION 5

What was the primary physical reason Felix Baumgartner could break the sound barrier during the early phase of his jump?

Gravity is much stronger at high altitude than at ground level

The air in the stratosphere is extremely thin, resulting in negligible air resistance

The spacesuit has its own propulsion system

The influence of high-altitude atmospheric circulation

Integrated Logical Analysis: Surface Conditions, Diurnal Temperature Variation, and Atmospheric Circulation

Through comparison and diagramming, understand the thermal effects of the atmosphere

[Reading Context: Earth has an atmosphere, while the Moon does not. … Explain why temperature variation on the Moon’s surface is far more extreme than on Earth’s.] [Reading Context: In 1943, large amounts of hydrocarbons from car exhaust accumulated in Los Angeles’ skies… London finally received clean air.]

1. Explain why temperature changes on the Moon’s surface are far more extreme than on Earth’s.

Answer:
The Moon lacks an atmosphere: 1. During the day, there is no atmospheric weakening of solar radiation (such as reflection or scattering), so solar radiation reaches the lunar surface directly, causing extremely high temperatures; 2. At night, there is no insulating effect (atmospheric back radiation), so heat generated by ground radiation is rapidly lost to outer space, causing temperatures to plummet. Earth, with its atmosphere’s weakening and insulating effects, experiences reduced day-night temperature differences.

2. [Image: Empty diagrams of land and sea for day and night] Describe the logic of atmospheric motion between land and sea during the day, based on thermal circulation principles.

Answer:
(1) During the day, land heats up quickly and becomes warmer than the ocean, which heats slowly; (2) Warm air over land expands and rises, while cool air over the ocean contracts and sinks; (3) Low pressure forms near the land surface, high pressure near the ocean surface; (4) Near-surface airflow moves from ocean to land (forming sea breeze), while upper-level airflow moves from land to ocean, completing the thermal circulation.

3. Analyze how summer atmospheric thermal circulation regulates temperature in coastal areas.

Answer:
During summer days, coastal areas are influenced by sea breezes, which bring cooler air from above the ocean inland, helping to reduce temperatures and noise, alleviating heat stress, thereby reducing both diurnal temperature range and annual temperature variation in coastal regions.