Quick questions on The four biophysical components: HSC Geography Biophysical Interactions

Atmosphere. The gaseous envelope around Earth, roughly 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, with trace gases including carbon dioxide, water vapour, methane, and ozone. Divided vertically into troposphere (0-12 km, where weather happens), stratosphere (containing the ozone layer), mesosphere, and thermosphere. The atmosphere distributes heat, transports water, and protects the surface from harmful radiation.

No environment exists from one sphere alone. A river system requires the atmosphere (for rainfall), the hydrosphere (the water itself), the lithosphere (the bed and banks), and the biosphere (riparian vegetation, fish). Removing any one sphere ends the environment.

Interactions are dynamic. Climate change is altering the atmosphere; that change cascades through the other spheres. Higher atmospheric carbon dioxide warms ocean surfaces (hydrosphere); warmer oceans bleach coral (biosphere) and alter ocean chemistry; altered weather patterns dry soils (lithosphere) and shift vegetation zones.

The gaseous envelope around Earth, roughly 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, with trace gases including carbon dioxide, water vapour, methane, and ozone. Divided vertically into troposphere (0-12 km, where weather happens), stratosphere (containing the ozone layer), mesosphere, and thermosphere. The atmosphere distributes heat, transports water, and protects the surface from harmful radiation.

All water at, above, and below Earth's surface in any state. Around 97 percent is saltwater in oceans, 2 percent is locked in glaciers and ice sheets, and only around 1 percent is accessible fresh water in rivers, lakes, soil, and groundwater. The hydrosphere moves through the water cycle, redistributing fresh water across the planet.

The solid Earth, including the crust and upper mantle. It includes rocks, soils, mineral deposits, and landforms. Plate tectonics drives lithospheric movement, creating mountains, volcanoes, and ocean basins.

All living organisms and the spaces they occupy. Defined functionally rather than spatially. Includes microbes in soil, fish in oceans, plants on land, and humans in cities.