: the part of the earth's atmosphere which extends from the top of the troposphere to about 30 miles (50 kilometers) above the surface and in which temperature increases gradually to about 32° F (0° C) and clouds rarely form
2
: a very high or the highest region on or as if on a graded scale
The stratosphere (strato- simply means "layer" or "level") lies above the earth's weather and mostly changes very little. It contains the ozone layer, which shields us from the sun's ultraviolet radiation except where it's been harmed by manmade chemicals. The levels of the atmosphere are marked particularly by their temperatures; stratospheric temperatures rise only to around 32°—very moderate considering that temperatures in the troposphere below may descend to about -70° and those in the ionosphere above may rise to 1000°.
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebOrel and 59 was in a whole other stratosphere for me. Nick Piecoro, The Arizona Republic, 11 Sep. 2022 Edward Geist, a policy researcher at Rand Corp., said that the relatively recent discovery that wildfires can loft smoke into the stratosphere bolsters the researchers’ theory. Alex Wigglesworth, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Aug. 2022 Opting for UberX Share had saved me a grand total of $12.45, which obviously isn’t nothing, but also isn’t even in the same stratosphere of deals that made Uber Pool so popular. Saahil Desai, The Atlantic, 5 July 2022 Although the Honus Wagner T206 card went for $6.6 million last August, the James triple logoman is in the same stratosphere and is valued between $3-5 million, according to reports. Chris Bumbaca, USA TODAY, 6 June 2022 That Kuminga’s readership can be in even the same stratosphere as Curry’s speaks to the rookie’s burgeoning celebrity. Connor Letourneau, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 May 2022 Neither occupies the same stratosphere as Robinson or Johnson, but Young and Watson are as dependable as a coach could hope for from Options C and D. Nick Moyle, San Antonio Express-News, 13 May 2021 While no one else was quite in the same stratosphere as nail gloves, the beauty looks on the Grammys 2021 red carpet were all about the nails (and the glitter eyeshadow), since face masks covered up most makeup real estate. Bella Cacciatore, Glamour, 15 Mar. 2021 Edward Geist, a policy researcher at Rand Corp., said that the relatively recent discovery that wildfires can loft smoke into the stratosphere bolsters the researchers’ theory. Alex Wigglesworth, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Aug. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from French stratosphère, probably from stratusstratus (from the zone's layer-like character, compared to stratus clouds) + -o--o- + -sphère-sphere
Note: The term was introduced, along with troposphère, by the French meteorologist Léon Tesserenc de Bort (1855-1913). See note at troposphere.