Hard bones provide primary support for the endoskeleton while more flexible cartilage is found at the end of all bones, at the joints, and in the nose and ears. In addition to providing support and protecting bodily organs, bones also produce blood cells and store minerals like calcium.

In the mesosphere, temperature again drops as altitude increases until the coldest point in the Earth's atmosphere, the mesopause, is reached where temperatures fall to −225 °F (−143 °C).

Small quantities of certain minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, and salt are important for nutrition and health.

When two air masses meet and neither is displaced, a stationary front is created. Stationary fronts often cause persistent cloudy wet weather.

The water (hydrologic) cycle describes the movement of water from Earth through the atmosphere and back to Earth. The cycle starts when water evaporates into a gas from bodies of water like rivers, lakes and oceans or transpirates from the leaves of plants.