From top to bottom, the Earth’s atmosphere is divided into five main layers, the exosphere, the thermosphere, the mesosphere, the stratosphere and the troposphere. The atmosphere thins out in each higher layer until the gases dissipate in space. The five main layers are: ⇒ Exosphere: 700 to 10,000 km ⇒ Thermosphere: 80 to 700 km ⇒ Mesosphere: 50 to 80 km ⇒ Stratosphere: 12 to 50 km ⇒ Troposphere: 0 to 12 km