Air surrounds the Earth, giving it protection from the constant battering of meteorites. It provides a shield against the UV radiation of the sun so that the organisms can survive. It also makes itself available to be breathed in by animals. Yes, we need the air, otherwise known as the atmosphere; or else we’d be nothing.
However, the atmosphere can have its ugly side. Tornados, hurricanes and typhoons move through things we have painstakingly built, clearing it all away. They sometimes even take some of us with them. Leaving families to grieve for their dead.
The atmosphere is something we depend on to live. It blocks most meteors and UV light that hit it, so we would not be. Without it, our world would be littered with craters like the Moon and anything alive would be fried to a crisp. Even if the meteorites and UV radiation do manage to get past the powerful defence, they are no longer large or strong enough to do more than punch a hole in the ground or cause sunburn.
Things that live also need the air in the atmosphere to stay alive. Air contains oxygen, which organisms breath to keep their bodies functioning. Without the air, life–forms may have never have appeared on the Earth at all. Oxygen also makes up part of the other component of life – water. The chemical symbol for water is H2O, which means it contains one oxygen molecule. Without water and air, life would never have occurred.
The atmosphere does, however, have its violent side. It is it that generates the massive tornadoes, hurricanes and typhoons that hit our civilisation with such brutal force. It destroys the things we need and the things we hold dear. It sometimes even catches some of us unaware, and leave behind grieving families.
The Essay on Man Prefers Water Life Passage
The five colors can blind, the five tones can deafen, the five tastes cloy. The race, the hunt, can drive men mad. And their booty leave them no peace. Therefore a sensible man prefers the inner to the outer eye." (Ch. 12) This passage obviously refers to the temptations of our senses. When he refers to sight, the pleasing aesthetics of an object can lure people into traps. Everything around us is ...
The atmosphere is our protector from the harshness of space. However, it also harms living things in a powerful way. Thus we live under a sea of restless air.
