Transcript Spheres of system Earth

Spheres of
system Earth
Understanding How Our
Planet Works
• The first step to understanding how our
planet works is to think about our planet
as a SYSTEM.
• Earth System Science (ESS) is the study of
the parts of the Earth and how they work
together (their interactions). ESS is a
new science, established in 1987.
• In the past we thought about the
Earth as many separate places....
land, ocean, sky, ice caps ... and
separate things, such as people,
animals, plants.
• Now we are discovering how
Earth works as a whole system.
• Earth is MORE than round. Earth
is whole:
–its features and living organisms
are interconnected.
–The clouds, oceans, mountains,
volcanoes, plants, bacteria,
people and animals all work
together and have important
roles in how our planet works.
The 6 interconnected spheres of
earth
• The lithosphere
• The hydrosphere
• The cryosphere
• The atmosphere
• The biosphere
• The anthrosphere
The lithosphere - rocks
• The Earth's solid surface
• It includes:
–continental crust
–oceanic crust
–various layers of the Earth's
interior.
The hydrosphere
• The sphere which includes all of
the water on Earth.
• 71% of the Earth is covered by
water and only 29% is solid land.
The Cryosphere
• part of the Earth's surface where
water is in a solid form, usually as
snow or ice, and includes glaciers,
ice shelves, snow, icebergs, and
snow fields.
The atmosphere
• The atmosphere is a gaseous layer that
surrounds the Earth.
• The atmosphere consists of a mixture of
gases composed primarily of nitrogen,
oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor.
The Biosphere
• The biosphere is all life on earth,
including man, and all organisms
(both plants and animals).
• The life zone on our planet is
unique.... it makes our planet
different from the other 7
planets in the solar system.
The Anthrosphere
• Humans and our constructions make
up the anthrosphere.
• It includes:
–human population
–our cities
–bridges
–dams and roads - everything we
build
How are these spheres connected?
• These spheres are closely connected in
many ways.
– For example, many birds (biosphere)
fly through the air (atmosphere), while
water (hydrosphere) often flows
through the soil (lithosphere).
– In fact, the spheres are so closely
connected that a change in one sphere
often results in a change in one or more
of the other spheres.
Hydrosphere   atmosphere
interactions
• Warm water from the ocean evaporates
•
•
•
until the atmosphere above can hold no
more.
The wind (atmosphere) moves the
moisture (water vapor) over a colder part
of the ocean.
The atmosphere becomes cold and the
water vapor changes to rain.
The rain falls on the ocean and some
islands in that area get heavy rain too.