Any planet with a gaseous atmosphere will have weather of some form. Mars has dust storms which rage across its surface. Jupiter's Great Red Spot is believed to be a the top of a huge, deep storm. In the oppressively hot atmosphere of Venus, it rains sulphuric acid.
On Earth, the atmosphere is a very stable mixture of gases:
Atmosphere Components
Main Gases:
Percent Content
Nitrogen
78%
Oxygen
20.9%
Argon
0.93%
Sub-total
99.8%
Variable consituents:
Carbon dioxide
200 to 400 parts per million
Water vapour
0% to 4%
Trace gases:
Ozone, Neon
Helium
Krypton, Methane
Sulphur oxides
Nitrogen oxides
Hydrogen
Aerosols:
Dust
Liquid water droplets
Salt particles
Acidic droplets
The weight of the total atmosphere is 5.3 x 1018 kg = 5.3 x 1015 tonnes = 5.3 million, billion tonnes.
Its thickness relative to the diameter of the Earth is like the skin on an apple to the apple.
It is layered into several "spheres"
Thermosphere
Mesosphere
Stratosphere
Troposphere
However, it is only in the troposphere where weather as we know it is present. In the troposphere, the interaction between sunlight and the planet's surface causes unequal heating. The exchange of heat between the atmosphere and the ocean and land creates a heat engine which moves energy, air molecules and water.
Weather is the movement of air and water to exchange energy around the globe in an attempt to equalize temperature over the whole planet.
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