Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The Earth's atmosphere is stratified into distinct vertical layers based on temperature behavior and gas composition.
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
1. Assertion (A): Within the troposphere (the lowest atmospheric layer extending from the surface up to about 10-12 km), temperature decreases with altitude at a standard environmental lapse rate of about \(6.5 ^\circ\text{C}\) per kilometer.
This happens because the troposphere is heated from below by the Earth's surface. Thus, Assertion (A) is correct.
2. Reason (R): The ozone layer is located in the stratosphere (about 15-50 km altitude), not the troposphere.
Stratospheric ozone absorbs high-energy solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which heats the stratosphere, causing temperature to rise with altitude in that layer.
Therefore, the claim that ozone cools the troposphere is scientifically incorrect, making Reason (R) false.
Step 4: Final Answer:
The correct option is 3, which corresponds to (A) is correct but (R) is not correct.