Earth’s Energy: Sources, Transfer, and Phenomena
Energy
Energy Transfer Mechanisms
- Convection: Heat transfer by mass movement or circulation within a substance.
- Radiation: Energy emitted by matter at a given temperature, produced directly from the source outwards in all directions.
- Conduction: The only way to transfer heat through solids.
Forms of Energy Entry and Exit on Earth
Reflection and Radiation
Winds
Winds are the movement of air in the atmosphere, especially in the troposphere, due to natural causes. It is a meteorological phenomenon. The cause of the winds is the rotation and translation movements of Earth that give rise to considerable differences in solar radiation.
Ocean Currents
An ocean current is a translational motion, continuous and permanent, of a given body of water in the oceans and, to a lesser degree, in the most extensive seas. They usually originate from the difference in water density, which is greater the colder and/or saltier it is.
Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels are mixtures of organic compounds extracted from the subsoil for the purpose of producing energy by combustion. These include coal, oil, and gas.
Continental Drift
Continental Drift is a theory proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912. He based his theory, among other things, on the way that the shapes of the continents on either side of the Atlantic Ocean, such as Africa and South America, seem to fit.
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is the process that generates vital energy for plant life to develop. It produces O2, necessary for human life.
Hydropower
Hydropower is obtained from processing the kinetic and potential energy of the flow of rivers or tidal waters. It is a kind of natural energy, generated by the hydrologic cycle of rainfall and solar evaporation, returning large amounts of water to elevated areas of the rivers feeding the continents.
Wind Energy
Wind energy is generated by the effect of air currents and is transformed into other useful forms for human activities.
Nuclear Energy
Nuclear energy is obtained by exploiting spontaneous nuclear reactions or those caused by humans.
Movements of the Earth
How does the Earth move? There are four types of movement: rotation, translation, precession, and nutation. Why does it move? The force of the sun’s gravity bends the path of the Earth until it closes on itself.
Concepts:
- Turbulence: Irregular movement of air caused by eddies superimposed on the overall flow.
- Volcanism: A set of geological phenomena associated with volcanic activity, in which material from inside the globe is projected onto the surface.
- Seismicity: The analysis of the presence and distribution of an earthquake or tremor, and the amount of energy released.
- Diastrophism: Diastrophism is the set of many processes and geophysical phenomena of deformation and dislocation of the crust as a result of internal forces.
- Reflection: Reflection is the change in direction of a wave on the surface separating two media, so that the wave returns to the medium in which it was generated.
- Irradiation: The process by which anything is exposed to any form of radiation.