<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (October 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (October 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The stratosphere (/ ˈstrætəˌsfɪər, - toʊ - /) is the second major layer of Earth's atmosphere, just above the troposphere, and below the mesosphere . The stratosphere is stratified in temperature, with warmer layers higher and cooler layers closer to the Earth; this increase of temperature with altitude is a result of the absorption of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation by the ozone layer . This is in contrast to the troposphere, near the Earth's surface, where temperature decreases with altitude . The border between the troposphere and stratosphere, the tropopause, marks where this temperature inversion begins . Near the equator, the stratosphere starts at as high as 20 km (66,000 ft; 12 mi), around 10 km (33,000 ft; 6.2 mi) at midlatitudes, and at about 7 km (23,000 ft; 4.3 mi) at the poles . Temperatures range from an average of − 51 ° C (− 60 ° F; 220 K) near the tropopause to an average of − 15 ° C (5.0 ° F; 260 K) near the mesosphere . Stratospheric temperatures also vary within the stratosphere as the seasons change, reaching particularly low temperatures in the polar night (winter). Winds in the stratosphere can far exceed those in the troposphere, reaching near 60 m / s (220 km / h; 130 mph) in the Southern polar vortex . </P>

What kind of life forms can be found in the stratosphere