Why the Sky is Blue? The Story of Design.

The sky is blue to our eyes because of a process called scattering. Light waves, in getting to our earth, pass through the atmosphere, which contains small particles we call molecules. Some of the light waves are deflected by these particles as they strike them. Thus sunlight, which is composed of all the colors of the rainbow, meets the earth’s atmosphere, and some of its rays are deflected. A bit of red is scattered, a bit more orange, even more yellow and green – and a whole lot of blue is scattered. Since our eyes are more sensitive to blue than any other colour, we pick up the blue light rays that are deflected throughout the sky. That is why the sky seems blue. Actually, the sky has no colour at all! It is just that our eyes see blue because they pick up the deflected blue light rays.

The process is the same when we see the pinks, greens, lavenders, oranges, and reds of a beautiful sunset. When the sun is about to set, its rays are coming to us at a very low angle, causing them to travel greater distances through the densest part of the atmosphere, which lies close to the earth. Then there is much more deflection of various colour rays emanating from the sun. So, we sometimes see many of all the colours at once. This is enhanced by water or dust particles in the atmosphere, and by reflection off clouds. You can predict a great sunset by knowing what type of clouds are on the horizon, and their amount. Typically, the best sunsets are seen in skies with high and mid-level clouds like altocumulus and cirrus clouds. Conversely, low-lying clouds like stratus and stratocumulus clouds rarely yield noteworthy sunsets.

Can you imagine what it would be like if we were not designed to see the sky as blue, or the beauty of a sunset? Imagine if the sky were black in the daytime just like it is at night when there is no sunlight. Depressing!

The atmosphere is really a marvelous envelope that God has put around our earth. It is delicately balanced in that it provides not only the elements necessary to sustain all the creatures that breathe, but also its protective elements are essential to shield them from the intensity of some of the harmful light rays emanating from the sun. For example, if it were not for ozone in the atmosphere, even though it is present only in extremely small amounts, we would die from sunburn in one day.

The effects of tampering with our atmosphere may not be known until it is too late, although the warnings are there now. However, the effects of its life-giving properties are realized by us every day, and we would do well to consider the Author of such a necessary and delicately balanced system that not only sustains life but also creates a delightful environment on which to rest our eyes. This is design.