This chart shows the composition of Earth's dry atmosphere by volume. Nitrogen and oxygen together account for about 99% of the air we breathe, with argon and a handful of trace gases making up the small remainder.
About: Composition of Earth's Atmosphere
Overview of the data behind this chartAI Insight
Earth's dry air is overwhelmingly nitrogen (78.09%) and oxygen (20.95%), which together make up 99.04% of the atmosphere by volume. Argon, a chemically inert noble gas, is a distant third at 0.93%, and carbon dioxide, despite its outsized climate importance, is only 0.04%. Everything beyond that is a trace: neon, helium, methane, krypton and hydrogen each measure thousandths of a percent or less. The values span an enormous range, from nitrogen at 78% down to hydrogen at 0.00005%, a difference of more than a million-fold. Note that these figures are for dry air; water vapour, excluded here, can vary from near zero to several percent depending on location and weather.
Key Findings
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Composition of Earth's Atmosphere
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chartCategory Rankings
Share of Dry Air (% by volume) · All Time| # | Category | All Time |
|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Nitrogen | 78.09 |
| 🥈 | Oxygen | 20.95 |
| 🥉 | Argon | 0.93 |
| 4 | Carbon Dioxide | 0.04 |
| 5 | Neon | 0.00 |
| 6 | Helium | 0.00 |
| 7 | Methane | 0.00 |
| 8 | Krypton | 0.00 |
| 9 | Hydrogen | 0.00 |
What This Data Shows
Auto-generated trend summaries per categoryFull Data Table
9 records across 1 yearData Sources & References
All external sources cited in this datasetRelated Charts
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