Polar IceEarth Wealth

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Polar Ice
Over the past century, sea level has slowly been rising. This is in part due to the addition of water to the oceans through either the melting of or the "calving" off of icebergs from the world's land ice. Many individual mountain glaciers and ice caps are known to have been retreating, contributing to the rising sea levels. It is uncertain, however, whether the world's two major ice sheets-Greenland and Antarctica-have been growing or diminishing. This is of particular importance because of the huge size of these ice sheets, with their great potential for changing sea level. Together, Greenland and Antarctica contain about 75% of the world's fresh water, enough to raise sea level by over 75 meters, if all the ice were returned to the oceans.The Greenland ice sheet is warmer than the Antarctic ice sheet and as a result, global warming could produce serious melting on Greenland while having less effect in the Antarctic. In the Antarctic, temperatures are far enough below freezing that even with some global warming, temperatures could remain sufficiently cold to prevent extensive surface melting.

  There are three distinct marine water masses located within the Arctic Ocean: the Arctic Surface Water (0–200 meters); the Atlantic Water (200–900 meters or 650–2,950 feet); and the Arctic Deep Water (900 meters–seafloor). The Arctic Surface Water is divided into three layers: the surface, subsurface, and lower surface layers. Each of these water layers has distinct salinity and temperature characteristics.
  The Atlantic Water (AW) is located below the Arctic Surface Water (ASW) and above the Arctic Deep Water (ADW). The average temperature (3°C [37.4°F]) of the AW is warmer than both that of the ASW (−1.9°C to −1.0°C [28.6°F to 30.2°F]) and the ADW (−0.8°C to 2.0°C [30.6°F to 35.6°F]). The AW has a higher salinity range (34.8–35.1) than that of the ASW (28.0–34.0). The ADW, with a salinity range of 34.9 to 34.99, represents approximately 60 percent of the Arctic Ocean total water volume and is comprised of the Norwegian Sea, Greenland Sea, Eurasian basin, and the Canadian basin deep waters.

Ice and Productivity

In the polar oceans, ice exists primarily in the form of either icebergs (glacier fragments) or sea ice . Sea ice, the major form of ice in the polar oceans, is formed by a sequence of events that occur once suitably cold (−1.8°C [28.8°F]) conditions exist to freeze sea water.
After sea water begins to freeze, frazil ice (small ice crystals) is formed. Frazil ice eventually accumulates to form grease ice (surface ice slicks), which in turn accumulates to form small ice chunks and floes that aggregate together to form a solid ice cover. Over time this solid ice cover will thicken into sea ice. Sea ice is present in the Arctic Ocean in three forms: the Polar Ice Cap, pack ice, and fast ice. Unlike Antarctica, the Arctic Ocean has no central landmass.

Polynyas.

Polynyas are large areas of open water surrounded by sea ice. Polynyas can range in size from a few square kilometers to more than 50,000 square kilometers (more than 19,000 square miles). Polynyas, which are of biological and physical interest, are produced by either the removal of sea ice or by the prohibition of sea-ice formation.
Nearshore polynyas are generally formed by strong surface winds blowing sea ice offshore, leading to sea-ice removal, surface-water exposure, and, in some cases, new production of sea ice. Polynyas also exist in the open ocean as a result of convection, a process that allows warmer subsurface waters to rise above sinking colder surface waters.
Recurrent polynyas play significant roles in the marine ecosystem by triggering early and intense phytoplankton production. Additionally, polynyas serve as wintering grounds for marine mammals.

Primary Productivity.

Primary productivity is affected by the availability of sunlight, carbon dioxide, and inorganic nutrients (nitrates, phosphates, and trace elements). In the marine environment, nutrients are recycled from phytoplankton to animals to decomposers (such as bacteria) before returning to phytoplankton. One of the most effective pathways for nutrients to be re-incorporated into phytoplankton is through the upwelling of nutrientrich deep waters in which the bodies of marine plants and animals have previously decomposed.
In the polar oceans, phytoplankton blooms (explosive population growth) occur during the summer months as a result of favorable light conditions which lead to short-term increased primary productivity. During these months, the Antarctic Ocean's upwelling zone exhibits some of the Earth's highest primary productivity.
In the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, the sea-ice formation and melt processes also play important roles in primary productivity. Frazil ice is mixed with surface and subsurface water, entrapping phytoplankton between ice crystals that are eventually incorporated into pack ice. The phytoplankton (mainly diatoms ) will grow within the sea-ice brine channels, causing the pack ice to appear greenish-brown. During the yearly ice melt process, the diatoms are released back into the water, resulting in local increased primary productivity.

Biofuels Earth Wealth

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Biofuels

Introduction

Biofuels are considered an energy source with high potential to address problems in several areas, such as the crisis of climate change, environmental degradation, energy supply and security. The use of biofuels largely depends on the availablity of different feedstocks. However, biofuels have some common features that they are all non-toxic and biodegradable, and they can reduce greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions. Recent studies from Soil and Tillage Research show that replacing fossil energy with renewable energy like biofuels is an important way of reaching climate policy goals

Types of biofuels

The figure below shows that there are various opportunities for the production of biofuels. The features between biofuels and fossil fuels are quite similar. For instance, biodiesel is similar to fossil diesel, and bioethanol is similar to petrol. This is a great advantage since the existing infrastructure does not necessarily to be intensively change.

First-generation biofuels
PPO, biodiesel, ETBE and bioehthanol are the first-generation biofuels. They are generally produced by the action of microorganisms and enzymes through the fermentation of any biological feedstock. Bioethanol, the most common biofuel feedstock, offers the greatest short-term bioful potential today since the conversion is widely developed and approved in practice . Although the first-generation biofuels are different in properties, technical requirements, economical aspects and potential usages, they can all contribute to guarantee long-term sustainability.

Second-generation biofuels
Second-generation biofuels are derived from feedstocks, which are not traditionally used for human consumption. They include BTL fuels and ethanol from lingo-cellulose. These products are not yet commercial available since their conversion technologies are not improved enough as products of first-generation biofuels. However, second-generation biofuels are considered to be more environmental healthy and produce less GHGs than first generation biofuels. The reason is that they can make use of the vast majority of feedstock in the process of production and avoid the waste inherent in the production of first generation biofuels. Second-generation biofuels can not only help solve this waste problem, but also can supply a larger proportion of our fuel supply sustainably, affordably, and with greater environmental benefits.

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The figure below focuses on the pathways of biofuel production. It shows that feedstocks sources can be divided into animal fats, oil crops, sugar plants, starchy plants, cellulosic biomass and wet biomass. During the different processes, such as refining, extraction, hydrolysis and fermentation etc., they can be transformed into liquid or gaseous biofuels.
 

Current biofuel promotion policies

A turning point for biofuels policies occurred in 2005–06, when several countries dramatically stepped up targets and mandates for biofuels to make a great promotion of their use. The promotion of biofuels is attractive for many governments, especially for the ones who want to take action to fight against global warming, diminish environmental pollutions, and to set up a sustainable policy of future gobal energy requirements.
The result of recent policy activity is that biofuels mandates now exist at the national level. "In the United States, a renewable fuel standard was enacted in 2005 that requires fuel distributors to increase the annual volume of biofuels blended up to 7.5 billion gallons (28 billion liters) by 2012 (although this target was expected to be met anyway through tax incentives). The federal government also extended a 43 cents/gallon (12 cents/liter) biodiesel tax credit for blenders through 2008"t is clear that policy has played an important role in influencing on the promotion of biofue

Environmental benefits and problems

By the way of reducing GHGs and local pollution, biofuels can provide many benefits to the environment. For example, bioethanol is water soluble, non-toxic and biodegradable. In addition, bioethanol is not as flammable as petrol, which means that it can reduce the incidence of severe vehicle fires and other daily transportation accidents. Compared to the carbon dioxide-based fuels, it is an environmentally friendly option to use hydrocarbon-based fuels.
It is important to remember that, as Abdersib and Fergusson(2006) argue, "none of the fuels derived from biomass energy can be considered truly carbon-neutral when one bears in mind that stages of production, transportation and processing required non-renewable energy. Attention also need to be paid to crop types, especially since it is clear that some first-generation feedstocks are more applicable to biofuel production than others. " Furthermore, attention should also paid to the application of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides and the production of biofuels itself to guarantee they are not harmful to the environment in the long term.

Socio-economic benefits of biofuels

Generally, biofuels are expected to have a positive impacts in socio-economic, especially for local areas. Biofuel production is a new market for agriculture products and as a result, it offers new income options for farmers. For example, under the generous subsidies provided by the Common Agricultural policy(CPA), members of powerful European farming lobbies are guaranteed sufficient incomes in a truly competitive agricultural market. It shows that the increased feedstock production will have a significant contribution in the agriculture sector. Therefore, agriculture not only plays a role in food production, but also in energy provision in the future.

Case Study—Biofuels in China

Biofuel usage has become a broad debate in many countries' energy policies since it covers many areas, such as energy security, food security, climate change mitigation, and international biofuel development. With 20 percent of the world's population and 10 percent of its arable land, China's debate on biofuel production is about the conflict between food security and energy crops. Now, the Chinese central government has taken ambitious moves to reduce petroleum products by adopting renewable energy sources.
In January 2007, China’s State Forestry Administration (SFA) and the oil company PetroChina signed an agreement of developing diversity of potential energy crops, such as an oil-bearing plant, Jatropha. Jatropha curcas is considered as a high potential biodiesel feedstock in China since it grows on marginal land in Southwest China and avoids the compeltition with the food system. Southwest China, including Guizhou Province, Sichuan Province, and Yunnan Province, is the official target area for Jatropha production in China(see table below). Especially for Yunnan Province, it has significantly more land available for Jatropha production than neither Guizhou nor Sichuan Province. Therefore, Yunnan may be the province capable of achieving the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)'s goal: to expand Jatropha plantations to 10 million mu in each Southwest province in China.
Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan Provinces are the poorest regions in China. Although the southwest is one of the most ecologically important regions in China, the individuals' incomes and provincial goverment revenue per person are below the national averages. Planting Jatropha could offer rural income generation and employment opportunities to improve the living standard of the local farming lobbies.

The Process of transferring Jatropha into biofuel

Biodiesel
Biodiesel was probably the first of the alternative fuels to really become known to the public. The great advantage of biodiesel is that it can be used in existing vehicles with little or no adaptation necessary. Biodiesel is, naturally, a compromise for this reason, but still balances positively on the energy scales. There are energy plants available that will produce a higher yield in kWh per area, but the simplicity of having a fuel that is fully compatible with present fuel and engine technology makes it very attractive.
Cars running on BioEthanol, which is produced from agricultural crops, sugar cane or bio-mass, are governed by the same law of physics as those using gasoline. That means both emit CO₂, as an inevitable consequence of the combustion process. But there is a crucial difference: burning ethanol, in effect, recycles the CO₂ because it has already been removed from the atmosphere by photosynthesis during the natural growth process. In contrast, the use of gasoline or diesel injects into the atmosphere additional new quantities of CO₂ which have lain fixed underground in oil deposits for millions of years.
Biogas
Biogas is becoming increasingly interesting as an alternative to natural gas. It is especially useful that the composition is practically identical, so the same burners can be used for both fuels. Biogas can be produced from plant or animal waste, or a combination of both. There are many different methods used dependent on the starting material and quantity involved. A mixtrue of both has proven to be the best method. The animal waste produces the nitrogen needed for growth of the bacteria and the vegetable waste supplies most ofthe carbon and hydrogen necessary.
Biomass
Biomass can be a practicable alternative for small district heating schemes in rural areas. Traditional biomass is wood residue and excess straw from agriculture being burned to provide heat or power. There are also gasification plants that produce a gas composed mainly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen from plant material. This has the advantage of being capable of transportation by pipeline or being filled into cylinders for distribution. Pyrolyis, as it is known, is being investigated in many countries presently. 

Pyrolysis of Biomass
Pyrolysis of biomass is used to produce a mixture of three combustible products from biomass: tar, gas and coke are formed in varying proportions. After cleaning the gas can be used to drive turbines or gas motors. The tar is also suitable for the plastics industry and the coke can also be burned in the conventional way.
Landfill gas analyzer
The landfill gas analyzer is similar to a standard flue gas analyser, but capable of measuring methane and carbon dioxide directly. There are many landfill sites in use still, which all produce gas naturally. More advanced models of landfill gas analyzer will also be capable of measuring the products of combustion.
Landfill sites
Landfill sites are now being used for the commercial production of methane in many areas instead of simply flaring the gas for safety reasons. Methane is produced in commercially viable quantities for many years after a landfill site has been closed. Nevertheless, there are still many landfill sites where the gas is being wasted. This source will dry up in time to come, since many countires are now finally emphasising the separation of waste and recycling, but there is gas for the next twenty years in the landfill sites presently existing.

Measurements in biogas
Measurement of the concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane in biogas has produced interesting errors, probably due to the difference in size of the molecules. These factors require consideration when biogas is measured before combustion. Commercial use of biogas makes knowledge of the composition and heating value essential.
Methane digester
Although not a detailed description of how to build a methane digester, this is a good explanation of the working principle. The methane digester is a plant to produce methane in the form of biogas from plant and animal waste. Such systems are common in certain countries, such as India, but sorely neglected in others, although the raw material is available everywhere.

Earth Wealth Minerals

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Minerals

Minerals are basic constituents of rocks, which builds lithosphere of the Earth,
and other planets, their satellites, asteroids and meteor.
Performance of minerals:
-homogeneous structure,
-defined chemical composition,
-certain structures of properly distributed in space (crystalline) or without an order (without amorphous-crystalline structure).
Only minerals with a crystal lattice are called crystals.

Minerals consist of atoms, ions, ionic groups and molecules that may be connected in various ways (ionic bond, covalent bond, electrostatic forces, van der Waals forces).
Mineral grains vary in size (visible eye, microscope, electron microscope-macro, micro.
The performances of crystallized minerals depend on the ingredients and location
grid, which is a reflection of their geometrically correct spatial
schedule. There are 6 crystall system.
Performance of minerals:
-Cleavage, hardness, density, color, luster,
-Velocity of light, heat and electricity,
-Angles of refraction and reflection,
-Radioactivity, magnetic properties, etc.
Polymorphism-chemical combination of the same chemical composition of different forms of crystal lattice (eg graphite and diamond-C or calcite and aragonite).

Classification of minerals according to chemical composition
Silicate minerals
Their spatial structure of form, face, or chain connected SiO4 tetrahedra which are located between the metal atoms (silicon atom in the middle, and the tops are tetrahedron of oxygen atoms).
1) Spatial linked tetrahedra with all four of the top (60% of the lithosphere)
feldspar (Orthoclase and sanidine), plagioclase (albite-anortite)
2) Flat View linked tetrahedra in single and dual low
associated layer-characterized by strong cleavage.
micas (muscovite, biotite), chlorite, talc, clay minerals (kaolinite, illite, montmorillonite)
3) Single chain linked tetrahedra
(Pyroxenes)
4) Double chains of tetrahedra
(Tremolite, actinolite, hornblende, glaucophane)
5) silicate minerals with independent tetrahedra

Earth Wealth Earth Statistics

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Earth Statistics 

 

From the perspective we get on Earth, our planet appears to be big and sturdy with an endless ocean of air. From space, astronauts often get the impression that the Earth is small with a thin, fragile layer of atmosphere. For a space traveler, the distinguishing Earth features are the blue waters, brown and green land masses and white clouds set against a black background.
Many dream of traveling in space and viewing the wonders of the universe. In reality all of us are space travelers. Our spaceship is the planet Earth, traveling at the speed of 108,000 kilometers (67,000 miles) an hour.
Earth is the 3rd planet from the Sun at a distance of about 150 million kilometers (93.2 million miles). It takes 365.256 days for the Earth to travel around the Sun and 23.9345 hours for the Earth rotate a complete revolution. It has a diameter of 12,756 kilometers (7,973 miles), only a few hundred kilometers larger than that of Venus. Our atmosphere is composed of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen and 1 percent other constituents.
Earth is the only planet in the solar system known to harbor life. Our planet's rapid spin and molten nickel-iron core give rise to an extensive magnetic field, which, along with the atmosphere, shields us from nearly all of the harmful radiation coming from the Sun and other stars. Earth's atmosphere protects us from meteors, most of which burn up before they can strike the surface.
From our journeys into space, we have learned much about our home planet. The first American satellite, Explorer 1, discovered an intense radiation zone, now called the Van Allen radiation belts. This layer is formed from rapidly moving charged particles that are trapped by the Earth's magnetic field in a doughnut-shaped region surrounding the equator. Other findings from satellites show that our planet's magnetic field is distorted into a tear-drop shape by the solar wind. We also now know that our wispy upper atmosphere, once believed calm and uneventful, seethes with activity -- swelling by day and contracting by night. Affected by changes in solar activity, the upper atmosphere contributes to weather and climate on Earth.
Besides affecting Earth's weather, solar activity gives rise to a dramatic visual phenomenon in our atmosphere. When charged particles from the solar wind become trapped in Earth's magnetic field, they collide with air molecules above our planet's magnetic poles. These air molecules then begin to glow and are known as the auroras or the northern and southern lights.

Planetary Symbol:		Surface Gravity:	9.78 m/s^2
Diameter:	12,753 km (7,926 miles)	Rotation Period with respect to Sun (Length of Day):	24 hrs
Mass:	5.98x10^24 kilograms (6.5e21 tons)	Rotation Period with respect to stars (Sidereal Day):	23 hrs 56 min
Density:	5,515 kg/m^3	Revolution Period about the Sun (Length of a Year):	365 days 5 hrs
Minimum Distance from Sun:	146 million km (91 million miles)	Tilt of Axis:	23o 27"
Maximum Distance from Sun:	152 million km (94.5 million miles)	Temperature:	-89o C to 57.7o C (-128o F to 136o F)
Orbital Semimajor Axis:	1.0 AU	Average Surface Temperature (K):	287K
Satellites:	1 (the Moon)

Atmospheric composition Nitrogen      77% Oxygen        21% Other             2%

Earth Wealth Sustainable Agriculture

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Sustainable Agriculture

Photograph by Louis Daria, Your Shot

Sustainable agriculture takes many forms, but at its core is a rejection of the industrial approach to food production developed during the 20th century.
This system, with its reliance on monoculture, mechanization, chemical pesticides and fertilizers, biotechnology, and government subsidies, has made food abundant and affordable. However, the ecological and social price has been steep: erosion; depleted and contaminated soil and water resources; loss of biodiversity; deforestation; labor abuses; and the decline of the family farm.
The concept of sustainable agriculture embraces a wide range of techniques, including organic, free-range, low-input, holistic, and biodynamic.
The common thread among these methods is an embrace of farming practices that mimic natural ecological processes. Farmers minimize tilling and water use; encourage healthy soil by planting fields with different crops year after year and integrating croplands with livestock grazing; and avoid pesticide use by nurturing the presence of organisms that control crop-destroying pests.
Beyond growing food, the philosophy of sustainability also espouses broader principles that support the just treatment of farm workers and food pricing that provides the farmer with a livable income.
Critics of sustainable agriculture claim, among other things, that its methods result in lower crop yields and higher land use. They add that a wholesale commitment to its practices will mean inevitable food shortages for a world population expected to exceed 8 billion by the year 2030. There's recent evidence, though, suggesting that over time, sustainably farmed lands can be as productive as conventional industrial farms.

Earth Wealth Global Warming Solutions

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Global Warming Solutions

What Can We Do?

Photograph by Paul Nicklen

The evidence that humans are causing global warming is strong, but the question of what to do about it remains controversial. Economics, sociology, and politics are all important factors in planning for the future.
Even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs) today, the Earth would still warm by another degree Fahrenheit or so. But what we do from today forward makes a big difference.  Depending on our choices, scientists predict that the Earth could eventually warm by as little as 2.5 degrees or as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
A commonly cited goal is to stabilize GHG concentrations around 450-550 parts per million (ppm), or about twice pre-industrial levels. This is the point at which many believe the most damaging impacts of climate change can be avoided.  Current concentrations are about 380 ppm, which means there isn't much time to lose.  According to the IPCC, we'd have to reduce GHG emissions by 50% to 80% of what they're on track to be in the next century to reach this level.
Is this possible?
Many people and governments are already working hard to cut greenhouse gases, and everyone can help.
Researchers Stephen Pacala and Robert Socolow at Princeton University have suggested one approach that they call "stabilization wedges." This means reducing GHG emissions from a variety of sources with technologies available in the next few decades, rather than relying on an enormous change in a single area.  They suggest 7 wedges that could each reduce emissions, and all of them together could hold emissions at approximately current levels for the next 50 years, putting us on a potential path to stabilize around 500 ppm.
There are many possible wedges, including improvements to energy efficiency and vehicle fuel economy (so less energy has to be produced), and increases in wind and solar power, hydrogen produced from renewable sources, biofuels (produced from crops), natural gas, and nuclear power.  There is also the potential to capture the carbon dioxide emitted from fossil fuels and store it underground—a process called "carbon sequestration."
In addition to reducing the gases we emit to the atmosphere, we can also increase the amount of gases we take out of the atmosphere.  Plants and trees absorb CO2 as they grow, "sequestering" carbon naturally.  Increasing forestlands and making changes to the way we farm could increase the amount of carbon we're storing.
Some of these technologies have drawbacks, and different communities will make different decisions about how to power their lives, but the good news is that there are a variety of options to put us on a path toward a stable climate.

 

Earth Wealth What Is Global Warming?

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What Is Global Warming?

The Planet Is Heating Up—and Fast

Photograph by Paul Nicklen

Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, cloud forests are drying, and wildlife is scrambling to keep pace. It's becoming clear that humans have caused most of the past century's warming by releasing heat-trapping gases as we power our modern lives. Called greenhouse gases, their levels are higher now than in the last 650,000 years.
We call the result global warming, but it is causing a set of changes to the Earth's climate, or long-term weather patterns, that varies from place to place. As the Earth spins each day, the new heat swirls with it, picking up moisture over the oceans, rising here, settling there. It's changing the rhythms of climate that all living things have come to rely upon.
What will we do to slow this warming? How will we cope with the changes we've already set into motion? While we struggle to figure it all out, the face of the Earth as we know it—coasts, forests, farms and snow-capped mountains—hangs in the balance.
Greenhouse effect
The "greenhouse effect" is the warming that happens when certain gases in Earth's atmosphere trap heat. These gases let in light but keep heat from escaping, like the glass walls of a greenhouse.
First, sunlight shines onto the Earth's surface, where it is absorbed and then radiates back into the atmosphere as heat. In the atmosphere, “greenhouse” gases trap some of this heat, and the rest escapes into space. The more greenhouse gases are in the atmosphere, the more heat gets trapped.
Scientists have known about the greenhouse effect since 1824, when Joseph Fourier calculated that the Earth would be much colder if it had no atmosphere. This greenhouse effect is what keeps the Earth's climate livable. Without it, the Earth's surface would be an average of about 60 degrees Fahrenheit cooler. In 1895, the Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius discovered that humans could enhance the greenhouse effect by making carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. He kicked off 100 years of climate research that has given us a sophisticated understanding of global warming.
Levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) have gone up and down over the Earth's history, but they have been fairly constant for the past few thousand years. Global average temperatures have stayed fairly constant over that time as well, until recently. Through the burning of fossil fuels and other GHG emissions, humans are enhancing the greenhouse effect and warming Earth.
Scientists often use the term "climate change" instead of global warming. This is because as the Earth's average temperature climbs, winds and ocean currents move heat around the globe in ways that can cool some areas, warm others, and change the amount of rain and snow falling. As a result, the climate changes differently in different areas.
Aren't temperature changes natural?
The average global temperature and concentrations of carbon dioxide (one of the major greenhouse gases) have fluctuated on a cycle of hundreds of thousands of years as the Earth's position relative to the sun has varied. As a result, ice ages have come and gone.
However, for thousands of years now, emissions of GHGs to the atmosphere have been balanced out by GHGs that are naturally absorbed.  As a result, GHG concentrations and temperature have been fairly stable. This stability has allowed human civilization to develop within a consistent climate.
Occasionally, other factors briefly influence global temperatures.  Volcanic eruptions, for example, emit particles that temporarily cool the Earth's surface.  But these have no lasting effect beyond a few years. Other cycles, such as El Niño, also work on fairly short and predictable cycles.
Now, humans have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by more than a third since the industrial revolution. Changes this large have historically taken thousands of years, but are now happening over the course of decades.
Why is this a concern?
The rapid rise in greenhouse gases is a problem because it is changing the climate faster than some living things may be able to adapt. Also, a new and more unpredictable climate poses unique challenges to all life.
Historically, Earth's climate has regularly shifted back and forth between temperatures like those we see today and temperatures cold enough that large sheets of ice covered much of North America and Europe. The difference between average global temperatures today and during those ice ages is only about 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit), and these swings happen slowly, over hundreds of thousands of years.
Now, with concentrations of greenhouse gases rising, Earth's remaining ice sheets (such as Greenland and Antarctica) are starting to melt too. The extra water could potentially raise sea levels significantly.
As the mercury rises, the climate can change in unexpected ways. In addition to sea levels rising, weather can become more extreme. This means more intense major storms, more rain followed by longer and drier droughts (a challenge for growing crops), changes in the ranges in which plants and animals can live, and loss of water supplies that have historically come from glaciers.
Scientists are already seeing some of these changes occurring more quickly than they had expected. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, eleven of the twelve hottest years since thermometer readings became available occurred between 1995 and 2006.

Earth Wealth Effects of Global Warming

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Effects of Global Warming 

Signs Are Everywhere

Photograph by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters/Corbis

The planet is warming, from North Pole to South Pole, and everywhere in between. Globally, the mercury is already up more than 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius), and even more in sensitive polar regions. And the effects of rising temperatures aren’t waiting for some far-flung future. They’re happening right now. Signs are appearing all over, and some of them are surprising. The heat is not only melting glaciers and sea ice, it’s also shifting precipitation patterns and setting animals on the move.
Some impacts from increasing temperatures are already happening.

• Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s poles. This includes mountain glaciers, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice.
• Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the decline of the Adélie penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years.
• Sea level rise became faster over the last century.
• Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north or to higher, cooler areas.
• Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average.
• Spruce bark beetles have boomed in Alaska thanks to 20 years of warm summers. The insects have chewed up 4 million acres of spruce trees.

Other effects could happen later this century, if warming continues.

• Sea levels are expected to rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 and 59 centimeters) by the end of the century, and continued melting at the poles could add between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters).
• Hurricanes and other storms are likely to become stronger.
• Species that depend on one another may become out of sync. For example, plants could bloom earlier than their pollinating insects become active.
• Floods and droughts will become more common. Rainfall in Ethiopia, where droughts are already common, could decline by 10 percent over the next 50 years.
• Less fresh water will be available. If the Quelccaya ice cap in Peru continues to melt at its current rate, it will be gone by 2100, leaving thousands of people who rely on it for drinking water and electricity without a source of either.
• Some diseases will spread, such as malaria carried by mosquitoes.
• Ecosystems will change—some species will move farther north or become more successful; others won’t be able to move and could become extinct. Wildlife research scientist Martyn Obbard has found that since the mid-1980s, with less ice on which to live and fish for food, polar bears have gotten considerably skinnier.  Polar bear biologist Ian Stirling has found a similar pattern in Hudson Bay.  He fears that if sea ice disappears, the polar bears will as well.

Source for climate information: IPCC, 2007

Earth Wealth Causes of Global Warming

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Causes of Global Warming

Photograph by Peter Essick

What Causes Global Warming?
Scientists have spent decades figuring out what is causing global warming. They've looked at the natural cycles and events that are known to influence climate. But the amount and pattern of warming that's been measured can't be explained by these factors alone. The only way to explain the pattern is to include the effect of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted by humans.
To bring all this information together, the United Nations formed a group of scientists called the International Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC. The IPCC meets every few years to review the latest scientific findings and write a report summarizing all that is known about global warming. Each report represents a consensus, or agreement, among hundreds of leading scientists.
One of the first things scientists learned is that there are several greenhouse gases responsible for warming, and humans emit them in a variety of ways. Most come from the combustion of fossil fuels in cars, factories and electricity production. The gas responsible for the most warming is carbon dioxide, also called CO2. Other contributors include methane released from landfills and agriculture (especially from the digestive systems of grazing animals), nitrous oxide from fertilizers, gases used for refrigeration and industrial processes, and the loss of forests that would otherwise store CO2.
Different greenhouse gases have very different heat-trapping abilities. Some of them can even trap more heat than CO2. A molecule of methane produces more than 20 times the warming of a molecule of CO2. Nitrous oxide is 300 times more powerful than CO2. Other gases, such as chlorofluorocarbons (which have been banned in much of the world because they also degrade the ozone layer), have heat-trapping potential thousands of times greater than CO2. But because their concentrations are much lower than CO2, none of these gases adds as much warmth to the atmosphere as CO2 does.
In order to understand the effects of all the gases together, scientists tend to talk about all greenhouse gases in terms of the equivalent amount of CO2. Since 1990, yearly emissions have gone up by about 6 billion metric tons of "carbon dioxide equivalent" worldwide, more than a 20% increase.

Earth Wealth Geothermal Energy

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Geothermal Energy

Tapping the Earth's Heat

This Ggeothermal power plant in Reykjavik, Iceland, is using their underground reservoirs of steam and hot water to generate electricity and to heat and cool buildings directly

 Geothermal energy has been used for thousands of years in some countries for cooking and heating. It is simply power derived from the Earth's internal heat.This thermal energy is contained in the rock and fluids beneath Earth's crust. It can be found from shallow ground to several miles below the surface, and even farther down to the extremely hot molten rock called magma.

These underground reservoirs of steam and hot water can be tapped to generate electricity or to heat and cool buildings directly.
A geothermal heat pump system can take advantage of the constant temperature of the upper ten feet (three meters) of the Earth's surface to heat a home in the winter, while extracting heat from the building and transferring it back to the relatively cooler ground in the summer.
Geothermal water from deeper in the Earth can be used directly for heating homes and offices, or for growing plants in greenhouses. Some U.S. cities pipe geothermal hot water under roads and sidewalks to melt snow.
To produce geothermal-generated electricity, wells, sometimes a mile (1.6 kilometers) deep or more, are drilled into underground reservoirs to tap steam and very hot water that drive turbines linked to electricity generators. The first geothermally generated electricity was produced in Larderello, Italy, in 1904.
There are three types of geothermal power plants: dry steam, flash, and binary. Dry steam, the oldest geothermal technology, takes steam out of fractures in the ground and uses it to directly drive a turbine. Flash plants pull deep, high-pressure hot water into cooler, low-pressure water. The steam that results from this process is used to drive the turbine. In binary plants, the hot water is passed by a secondary fluid with a much lower boiling point than water. This causes the secondary fluid to turn to vapor, which then drives a turbine. Most geothermal power plants in the future will be binary plants.
Geothermal energy is generated in over 20 countries. The United States is the world's largest producer, and the largest geothermal development in the world is The Geysers north of San Francisco in California. In Iceland, many of the buildings and even swimming pools are heated with geothermal hot water. Iceland has at least 25 active volcanoes and many hot springs and geysers.
There are many advantages of geothermal energy. It can be extracted without burning a fossil fuel such as coal, gas, or oil. Geothermal fields produce only about one-sixth of the carbon dioxide that a relatively clean natural-gas-fueled power plant produces. Binary plants release essentially no emissions. Unlike solar and wind energy, geothermal energy is always available, 365 days a year. It's also relatively inexpensive; savings from direct use can be as much as 80 percent over fossil fuels.
But it has some environmental problems. The main concern is the release of hydrogen sulfide, a gas that smells like rotten egg at low concentrations. Another concern is the disposal of some geothermal fluids, which may contain low levels of toxic materials. Although geothermal sites are capable of providing heat for many decades, eventually specific locations may cool down.

Earth Wealth Solar Energy

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Solar Energy

Photograph by Otis Imboden

Every hour the sun beams onto Earth more than enough energy to satisfy global energy needs for an entire year. Solar energy is the technology used to harness the sun's energy and make it useable. Today, the technology produces less than one tenth of one percent of global energy demand.
Many people are familiar with so-called photovoltaic cells, or solar panels, found on things like spacecraft, rooftops, and handheld calculators. The cells are made of semiconductor materials like those found in computer chips. When sunlight hits the cells, it knocks electrons loose from their atoms. As the electrons flow through the cell, they generate electricity.
On a much larger scale, solar thermal power plants employ various techniques to concentrate the sun's energy as a heat source. The heat is then used to boil water to drive a steam turbine that generates electricity in much the same fashion as coal and nuclear power plants, supplying electricity for thousands of people.
In one technique, long troughs of U-shaped mirrors focus sunlight on a pipe of oil that runs through the middle. The hot oil then boils water for electricity generation. Another technique uses moveable mirrors to focus the sun's rays on a collector tower, where a receiver sits. Molten salt flowing through the receiver is heated to run a generator.
Other solar technologies are passive. For example, big windows placed on the sunny side of a building allow sunlight to heat-absorbent materials on the floor and walls. These surfaces then release the heat at night to keep the building warm. Similarly, absorbent plates on a roof can heat liquid in tubes that supply a house with hot water.
Solar energy is lauded as an inexhaustible fuel source that is pollution and often noise free. The technology is also versatile. For example, solar cells generate energy for far-out places like satellites in Earth orbit and cabins deep in the Rocky Mountains as easily as they can power downtown buildings and futuristic cars.
But solar energy doesn't work at night without a storage device such as a battery, and cloudy weather can make the technology unreliable during the day. Solar technologies are also very expensive and require a lot of land area to collect the sun's energy at rates useful to lots of people.
Despite the drawbacks, solar energy use has surged at about 20 percent a year over the past 15 years, thanks to rapidly falling prices and gains in efficiency. Japan, Germany, and the United States are major markets for solar cells. With tax incentives, solar electricity can often pay for itself in five to ten years.

Earth Wealth Hydropower

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Hydropower 

Going With the Flow 

Photograph by Dorling Kindersley/Getty Images

Hydropower is electricity generated using the energy of moving water. Rain or melted snow, usually originating in hills and mountains, create streams and rivers that eventually run to the ocean. The energy of that moving water can be substantial, as anyone who has been whitewater rafting knows.
This energy has been exploited for centuries. Farmers since the ancient Greeks have used water wheels to grind wheat into flour. Placed in a river, a water wheel picks up flowing water in buckets located around the wheel. The kinetic energy of the flowing river turns the wheel and is converted into mechanical energy that runs the mill.
In the late 19th century, hydropower became a source for generating electricity. The first hydroelectric power plant was built at Niagara Falls in 1879. In 1881, street lamps in the city of Niagara Falls were powered by hydropower. In 1882 the world’s first hydroelectric power plant began operating in the United States in Appleton, Wisconsin.
A typical hydro plant is a system with three parts: an electric plant where the electricity is produced; a dam that can be opened or closed to control water flow; and a reservoir where water can be stored. The water behind the dam flows through an intake and pushes against blades in a turbine, causing them to turn. The turbine spins a generator to produce electricity. The amount of electricity that can be generated depends on how far the water drops and how much water moves through the system. The electricity can be transported over long-distance electric lines to homes, factories, and businesses.
Hydroelectric power provides almost one-fifth of the world's electricity. China, Canada, Brazil, the United States, and Russia were the five largest producers of hydropower in 2004. One of the world's largest hydro plants is at Three Gorges on China's Yangtze River. The reservoir for this facility started filling in 2003, but the plant is not expected to be fully operational until 2009. The dam is 1.4 miles (2.3 kilometers) wide and 607 feet (185 meters) high.
The biggest hydro plant in the United States is located at the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in northern Washington. More than 70 percent of the electricity made in Washington State is produced by hydroelectric facilities.
Hydropower is the cheapest way to generate electricity today. That's because once a dam has been built and the equipment installed, the energy source—flowing water—is free. It's a clean fuel source that is renewable yearly by snow and rainfall.
Hydropower is also readily available; engineers can control the flow of water through the turbines to produce electricity on demand. In addition, reservoirs may offer recreational opportunities, such as swimming and boating.
But damming rivers may destroy or disrupt wildlife and other natural resources. Some fish, like salmon, may be prevented from swimming upstream to spawn. Technologies like fish ladders help salmon go up over dams and enter upstream spawning areas, but the presence of hydroelectric dams changes their migration patterns and hurts fish populations. Hydropower plants can also cause low dissolved oxygen levels in the water, which is harmful to river habitats.

 

Earth Wealth General structure of the Earth

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The shape of the geoid
Due to rotation of the masses at the poles the Earth is flattened, and its size in the continental rises above the shape of a rotational ellipsoid, and in the oceans under the form of a rotational ellipsoid.
(er=6377 km, rp= 6356km)

Density increases from the surface toward the center (2.7 to 11 g/cm3),
The temperature rises from the surface towards the central part (4000 -5000 ° C)
Early Earth was probably a uniform heterogeneous chemical composition and density.
The temperature of the early Earth during the aggregation process has reached the melting point of the elements iron and nickel, which were thicker and heavier than the spec of other ingredients and concentrated in the center of the Earth. At the same time, the lighter elements that form the silicate minerals are pulled toward the surface, forming the mantle and crust.Geochemical differentiation was made lupin, layered or zonal structure of the Earth which, in the middle of dense Fe-Ni core, the iron-rich silicate mantle and the silicate Earth's crust.
Crust (barysphere)
-depth> 5080 -2900 km, the mean density of ≈ 10.7 g/cm3, T = 4000 -5000 C,
-inner core-solid core of iron and nickel
-Depth> 5080 km,
-outer-core liquid alloy of iron and nickel, probably contains some light elements like oxygen and sulfur
-Depth: 2900 -5080 km,
-Liquid-metal mass convection motion → important for restoring geomagnetism.

Mantle
1) the lower mantle or the Mesosphere
-Depth to ≈ 2900 -1000 km
-Oxides and silicates, probably a little iron
-Heterogeneous environment, revealed differences in the moving speed of the waves and the density molten material.
2) Middle mantle or asthenosphere
-Depth of ≈ 1000-400 km
-Heterogeneous environment, revealed differences in the moving speed of the waves and the density matter,
-Established thermal dynamics of the convection layer with accompanying movement of molten material.
3) The upper mantle
-To a depth of ≈ 400 km,
Rocky and built from the ultramafic rocks (peridotite beneath the continents, Eclogite, below the oceanic crust and lercolit harcburgit)

Earth Wealth General structure of the Earth 2

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Crust
-Average depth beneath the continents is about 40 km,and 10-12 km beneath the ocean,
-Chemical composition of the most complex as a result of geochemical differentiation during formation of the Earth and the physical and chemical changes which subsequently occurred.
Continental crust-acidic aluminosilicate rocks (granite)
-SIAL (Si + Al),
-Miss at the bottom of the ocean.

Oceanic crust-mafic rocks (basalt) + covering sediment deposits average thickness in the oceans ≈ 450 m,
SIMA-(Si + Mg)
In basaltic crust are sometimes printed and rocks from the upper mantle.
Lithosphere (crust + upper mantle)
The lithosphere is the common exposed structural(Tectonic changes).Structural changes usually are caused by the dynamics of asthenosphere.
The two surfaces of discontinuity(Wiechert-Guttenberg(Core / sheath) and Moho (crust / mantle).
Isostasy
Isostasy is a balance between the dipped pieces (blocks) broken off the Earth crust that floats on the plastic and denser upper mantle (like a piece of wood or icebergs that float on water).Simplified, eg by Buoyancy, body immersed in water because of its weight oust the amount of water equal to their volume.Simply put, we can imagine the broken off pieces of bark to dive into the upper mantle and in accordance with its weight of push mantle, where each piece is in equilibrium with the adjacent piece because each piece has the same mass.
If we imagine that parts of the crust and upper mantle form separate vertical columns, then it is at the bottom of their bases the same pressure.
GRAVITY
The force of gravity between two objects varies depending on the mass of objects and their mutual distances according to the relation:
         mA* mB
G = k --------------
              l * l

The force of gravity increases with the mass of observed objects and the reduction of their
distance (between the celestial bodies, stars and planets and their satellites is much higher than between two objects on the Earth).

Earth Wealth Wind Power

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Wind Power

Wind turbines on a cloudy day Photograph by Medford Taylor

Wind is the movement of air from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. In fact, wind exists because the sun unevenly heats the surface of the Earth. As hot air rises, cooler air moves in to fill the void. As long as the sun shines, the wind will blow. And as long as the wind blows, people will harness it to power their lives.
Ancient mariners used sails to capture the wind and explore the world. Farmers once used windmills to grind their grains and pump water. Today, more and more people are using wind turbines to wring electricity from the breeze. Over the past decade, wind turbine use has increased at more than 25 percent a year. Still, it only provides a small fraction of the world's energy.
Most wind energy comes from turbines that can be as tall as a 20-story building and have three 200-foot-long (60-meter-long) blades. These contraptions look like giant airplane propellers on a stick. The wind spins the blades, which turn a shaft connected to a generator that produces electricity. Other turbines work the same way, but the turbine is on a vertical axis and the blades look like a giant egg beater.
The biggest wind turbines generate enough electricity to supply about 600 U.S. homes. Wind farms have tens and sometimes hundreds of these turbines lined up together in particularly windy spots, like along a ridge. Smaller turbines erected in a backyard can produce enough electricity for a single home or small business.
Wind is a clean source of renewable energy that produces no air or water pollution. And since the wind is free, operational costs are nearly zero once a turbine is erected. Mass production and technology advances are making turbines cheaper, and many governments offer tax incentives to spur wind-energy development.
Some people think wind turbines are ugly and complain about the noise the machines make. The slowly rotating blades can also kill birds and bats, but not nearly as many as cars, power lines, and high-rise buildings do. The wind is also variable: If it's not blowing, there's no electricity generated.
Nevertheless, the wind energy industry is booming. Globally, generation more than quadrupled between 2000 and 2006. At the end of last year, global capacity was more than 70,000 megawatts. In the energy-hungry United States, a single megawatt is enough electricity to power about 250 homes. Germany has the most installed wind energy capacity, followed by Spain, the United States, India, and Denmark. Development is also fast growing in France and China.
Industry experts predict that if this pace of growth continues, by 2050 the answer to one third of the world's electricity needs will be found blowing in the wind.

 

Earth Wealth Biofuels The Original Car Fuel

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Biofuels The Original Car Fuel Main Content

Biofuels have been around as long as cars have. At the start of the 20th century, Henry Ford planned to fuel his Model Ts with ethanol, and early diesel engines were shown to run on peanut oil.
But discoveries of huge petroleum deposits kept gasoline and diesel cheap for decades, and biofuels were largely forgotten. However, with the recent rise in oil prices, along with growing concern about global warming caused by carbon dioxide emissions, biofuels have been regaining popularity.
Gasoline and diesel are actually ancient biofuels. But they are known as fossil fuels because they are made from decomposed plants and animals that have been buried in the ground for millions of years. Biofuels are similar, except that they're made from plants grown today.
Much of the gasoline in the United States is blended with a biofuel—ethanol. This is the same stuff as in alcoholic drinks, except that it's made from corn that has been heavily processed. There are various ways of making biofuels, but they generally use chemical reactions, fermentation, and heat to break down the starches, sugars, and other molecules in plants. The leftover products are then refined to produce a fuel that cars can use.
Countries around the world are using various kinds of biofuels. For decades, Brazil has turned sugarcane into ethanol, and some cars there can run on pure ethanol rather than as additive to fossil fuels. And biodiesel—a diesel-like fuel commonly made from palm oil—is generally available in Europe.
On the face of it, biofuels look like a great solution. Cars are a major source of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas that causes global warming. But since plants absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, crops grown for biofuels should suck up about as much carbon dioxide as comes out of the tailpipes of cars that burn these fuels. And unlike underground oil reserves, biofuels are a renewable resource since we can always grow more crops to turn into fuel.
Unfortunately, it's not so simple. The process of growing the crops, making fertilizers and pesticides, and processing the plants into fuel consumes a lot of energy. It's so much energy that there is debate about whether ethanol from corn actually provides more energy than is required to grow and process it. Also, because much of the energy used in production comes from coal and natural gas, biofuels don't replace as much oil as they use.
For the future, many think a better way of making biofuels will be from grasses and saplings, which contain more cellulose. Cellulose is the tough material that makes up plants' cell walls, and most of the weight of a plant is cellulose. If cellulose can be turned into biofuel, it could be more efficient than current biofuels, and emit less carbon dioxide.

Earth Wealth Television Buying Guide

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Television Buying Guide

 What to Look For
Environmental Impact
Usage Tips

What to Look For

America is home to nearly as many TVs as people—an estimated 275 million sets. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reports that all those televisions eat up more than 50 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy every year. That’s enough juice to power every home in the state of New York for a calendar year. And televisions, along with their peripherals like DVD players and gaming consoles, add nearly $200 to the average annual energy bill.

• Lumen output: To maximize energy savings, choose the product that provides the most lumens at the lowest wattage. Energy Star lists common lumen equivalencies for CFL and incandescent wattages.
• Types of TVs:
  The days when TVs came in two types, color or black and white, are long gone. American televisions now use several different technologies—some greener than others.
  Traditional Cathode Ray Tube TVs, those of the deep cabinets and curved screens, aren’t particularly green performers when comparing apples-to-apples energy use with more modern sets of the same size. But because they don’t come in big-screen versions their energy use may compare well against newer behemoth sets.
  Among the prevailing TV types, DOE rates rear projection TVs as the most energy-efficient. Liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs take second place, followed by plasma models. The biggest plasma screens can rival the refrigerator as the most energy-hungry appliance in your home.
  On average, plasma TVs use almost triple the energy of a rear-projection model of the same size, and about 20 percent more than comparable LCDs.
  Rear-projection TVs may be the greenest energy choice but, unfortunately for eco-savvy consumers, market share has been falling for this rather bulky type of television and it’s likely they won’t be available much longer. That would leave LCD models as the most widely available, energy-efficient models.
• Size Matters:Many people buy a new TV because they want a bigger TV. But, simply put, bigger TVs use a lot more energy. You can compare the power consumption of different TV sizes, types and models with CNET’s ratings chart. Want a typical example of how much more energy big-screen TVs hog? CNET reports that a 52-inch LCD uses twice the power of a 32-inch model.
• Fine Tuning: One major factor in TV power consumption is controlled by your remote. Your unit’s picture settings can make a surprising difference in the set’s energy use, sometimes cutting the total by as much as 50 percent.
  The two main energy-related settings are contrast/picture and backlight/cell light (on LCD models). Changing these settings tunes your picture by altering light output—which directly affects how much energy the set uses. By tweaking factory settings most users can save significant energy and money without compromising picture quality.
• Energy Star: The first thing green shoppers should look for is an Energy Star label, awarded by the DOE and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to recognize energy-efficient products.
  Energy Star-qualified sets consume 30 percent less energy than their conventional counterparts, whether in use or on standby mode. Currently most of the sets on the market have earned the Energy Star rating. This is good news because the overall efficiency of TVs has improved. But it’s bad news for consumers who hope to differentiate between truly green sets and certified models that have really become average or worse.
  In May 2010, however, Energy Star is raising the bar. The Energy Star 4.0 rating will be unveiled and it should be a boon to eco-savvy shoppers. TVs will have to be 40 percent more efficient to earn this designation, which will likely certify only the top 25 percent of sets. For those who can wait, in 2012 the Energy Star 5.0 level will up the ante yet again by requiring sets to be 65 percent more efficient.

Earth Wealth Energy Tips Lightbulb Buying Guide

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Lightbulb Buying Guide

What to Look For
Environmental Impact
Usage Tips

What to Look For in a Lightbulb

Although there are other options, including LEDs and halogen bulbs, when it comes to cost, availability, and savings, compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) still offer the best value for lighting. You can now find LEDs for around $20, while CFLs average from $2-$10.

• Lumen output: To maximize energy savings, choose the product that provides the most lumens at the lowest wattage. Energy Star lists common lumen equivalencies for CFL and incandescent wattages.
• Shape:
  Triple-tube bulbs provide high light output in small spaces, ideal for desk and reading lamps.
  Flood lamp CFLs work well for recessed and track lighting.
  Globe shapes work well in bathrooms and above vanity mirrors where aesthetics are important.
  Torpedo-shaped candelabra bulbs fit nicely in small light fixtures such as sconces and designer lamps.
  Dome-shaped CFLs, similar in look to conventional incandescents, are a better fit for lamps whose shades clip onto the bulb.
• Kelvins: A CFL’s color is indicated by the Kelvin (k) temperature (listed on the package). Higher Kelvins, 5000k or 6000k, correspond with cooler, bluer colors, while lower Kelvins, 2700k or 3000k, give off a warm, cozy glow similar to incandescents. If the package doesn’t list the Kelvin temperature, look for descriptive phrases like “warm white” and “soft white.”
• Energy Star rated: Energy Star CFLs use 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs.

Earth Wealth Tips for Everyday Green Living Going the Extra Mile--Tips from Energy-Saving Hypermilers

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So you don't drive a hybrid. But you can still get better mpg in the car you have.
Join the ranks of the hypermilers--people who compete over how much they can improve their fuel economy just by using better driving techniques. There are more of these techniques than you think--and they make a big difference. Here are tips from the website  Ecomodder.com on how to maximize your miles.
Give the Brake a Break
One obvious intervention: Don't break hard at a traffic light. Don't waste your momentum--ease off the gas early and coast to a stop. The hypermilers have a whole rulebook on how to avoid braking. Turn wide, so you don't have to brake as hard. Anticipate changes in traffic lights, slowing as you approach in case a green turns red--or in case a red turns green, allowing you to coast slowly toward the light and accelerate when the car isn't completely stopped. And when you do stop, accelerate slowly--don't floor the gas pedal.
Hypermiling Starts Before You Even Start the Car
Taking stuff out of your trunk will lighten your car. Try putting bike racks on the back, not on top, where they add to drag. Or taking off roof racks you don't use. Check your tire pressure: Tires that aren't properly inflated produce too much friction on the road, slowing you down. Tire pressure drops with temperature, so check more often as the seasons change.
No More Idling
Idling means you're getting zero miles per gallon. It's actually better to turn off your engine (that's how hybrids work). Switch the key from "run" to "acc" (not "off"). (This works best in cars with a stick shift and no power steering.) An easier way to reduce idling is to go to gas stations at off-peak times, so you're not waiting for a pump. Avoid the drive-through. Get an E-Z Pass to slide right through toll booths instead of waiting in line.
And of course, do everything you can to avoid getting stuck in traffic. Plan your route ahead of time to avoid rush hour. On city streets, driving in the right lane may mean you end up having to navigate around buses making frequent stops and delivery vehicles double-parked in the street. Pick the lane of least resistance.
Plan Ahead
Run several errands on the same trip. Take the longest trip first. That way, your car warms up more and might not cool all the way down by the time you finish your errand. Starting a warm car is more efficient than getting a cold engine going.
To Draft Or Not to Draft
Drafting off trucks by driving close on their tails might increase efficiency, but it's dangerous and inconsiderate. (A smart hypermiler puts safety first.) But the physics of drafting can come in handy other ways. You can drive next to (and a little behind) trucks to let them reduce crosswinds. And sometimes following a slow-moving truck (at a safe distance) is helpful if you want to slow down without angering other drivers. After all, reducing speed is one of the best ways to improve your mileage.
Amenities and Add-Ons
You don't need your lights on during the day. Don't use four-wheel drive unless you really need it - four-wheel drive increases friction with the road, making your car work harder to move forward. Reduce your use of air conditioning by parking in the shade. Some hypermilers suggest using a beaded seat cover, which increases ventilation and might keep you from reaching for the AC.
But remember, keeping your windows open creates a lot of drag on the car, especially at highway speeds. You can open them in the city--but otherwise, it's best to use your vents.
Drive It Like You Bike It
If you also ride a bicycle, you'll notice a lot of these techniques feel familiar--you probably already do them on a bike. After all, the energy you're burning on a bike is your energy, and it's hard not to notice when you're wasting it. It wouldn't make sense to pedal as hard as you can to a red light and then brake hard. It goes without saying that tight turns on sidewalks force you to slow way down, as opposed to wide turns on streets, where you can keep your momentum going. You ride with as little extra weight as possible. You also avoid stops and starts--ever see those fixed-gear riders balancing at red lights without ever putting their feet down?
Hypermilers say they can improve their fuel efficiency easily by 35 percent. Now, can you go the extra mile?

Earth Wealth Biosphere history

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The term biosphere was first used by a geologist named Eduard Suess in 1875. He defined biosphere as “the place on earth's surface where life dwells". Vladimir I. Vernadsky refined the definition in 1926, placing the biosphere concept in its current position as one of the spheres in Earth Systems Science. The biosphere is the life zone of the Earth and includes all living organisms: the trees in the park, the birds in the air, fish in the rivers and oceans, the fly on your wall, the viruses that make you sick, bacteria in the trash can, mold on the bread, your pets, and even you and all your friends. The biosphere also includes all organic matter that has not yet decomposed (rotted). The biosphere is interconnected in the other Earth system spheres (Atmosphere, Lithosphere, and Hydrosphere)
Biosphere.

By volume, most of Earth’s biosphere is cold and marine, with 90% of the ocean’s waters at 5°C or colder. Fully 20% of Earth’s surface environment is frozen, including permanently frozen soil(permafrost), terrestrial ice sheets (glacial ice), polar sea ice, and snow cover.


The biosphere has evolved since the first single-celled organisms originated 3.5 billion years ago under atmospheric conditions resembling those of our neighboring planets Mars and Venus, which have atmospheres composed primarily of carbon dioxide. Billions of years of primary production by plants released oxygen from this carbon dioxide and deposited the carbon in sediments, eventually producing the oxygen-rich atmosphere we know today. Free oxygen, both for breathing (O2, respiration) and in the stratospheric ozone (O3) that protects us from harmful UV radiation, has made possible life as we know it while transforming the chemistry of earth systems forever.

The biosphere is a core concept within Biology and Ecology, where it serves as the highest level of biological organization, which begins with parts of cells and proceed to populations, species, ecoregions, biomes and finally, the biosphere. Global patterns of biodiversity within the biosphere are described using biomes.

Biosphere I's total surface area is about 197,000,000 square miles. Approximately 75% of of this is covered in water. The other 25% is divided primarily into seven major land masses or continents. On each of these continents exists the various necessities of life, including air, water, soil, and food. However, the ecosystems that are able to survive and produce on each continent vary widely.

The Earth is a complex balance of her ecosystems. It is the first biosphere, and thus obviouly the model for Biosphere II. Earth contains six ecosystems, including marshes, farmland, savannahs, deserts, oceans, and rainforests. Biosphere I contains countless different plant and animal species, as well as a wealth of minerals and fossil fuels. The basis of life within the Biosphere is mutation and natural selection as forms of self-preservation.

Earth Wealth Biosphere and atmosphere

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 All the ecosystems of the Earth consists of a functional unit called the Biosphere (spheres of life). The unity of animate and inanimate nature is not limited to ecosystems, but also extends to the entire planet Earth. Biosphere consists of other parts of the Earth's sphere inhabited by living beings:

* Atmosphere, a layer of air that makes the peripheral lining of our planet;
* Hydrosphere, the water layer of the Earth and
* Lithosphere, the outer, surface, hard cover of the Earth.

                             In this picture we see the top of atmosphere

The atmosphere is a gaseous layer around the Earth or another celestial body.
Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earth's gravity. It contains about four fifths nitrogen and one-fifth oxygen, with the amounts of other gases in traces. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation and reducing temperature extremes between day and night.

The atmosphere does not end abruptly. It slowly becomes thinner and gradually disappear in the universe. There is no definitive boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. Three-quarters of the mass of the atmosphere lies within 11 km of the planet's surface. In the United States to persons who travel above an altitude of 80 km called the astronaut. Height of 120 km marks the boundary where atmospheric effects become apparent during the spacecraft entering the atmosphere. It is also often a limit of the atmosphere and the universe takes the Kármán line at a distance of 100 km from the surface.

 Layers of the atmosphere:

-Exosphere
-Thermosphere
-Mesosphere
-Stratosphere
-Troposphere

Earth Wealth Layers of the atmosphere

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 Troposphere

The troposphere is the lowest region in the Earth's (or any planet's) atmosphere.It’s the layer in which you live. On the Earth, it goes from ground (or water) level up to about 11 miles (17 kilometers) high. This layer is where we would see most of the clouds and where most of the weather conditions would take place.It is the densest atmospheric layer, containing almost 90% of the atmosphere’s total mass.All the weather and clouds occur in the troposphere.The tropopause is the boundary zone (or transition layer) between the troposphere and the stratosphere.

Stratosphere

The layer above the troposphere is called the stratosphere.The stratosphere extends between 11 and 31 miles (17 to 50 kilometers) above the earth's surface.The main thing about the stratosphere is that it has the ozone, which is made up of ozone molecules that absorb the ultraviolet rays from the Sun and shield us from its extremely harmful effects.Ozone is a molecule that is made up of three oxygen atoms (instead of two oxygen atoms).

Mesosphere

It is the coldest atmospheric layer and this is where meteors usually burn up when they enter Earth’s atmosphere.The mesosphere extends from between 31 and 50 miles (17 to 80 kilometers) above the earth's surfaceThe mesosphere is characterized by temperatures that quickly decrease as height increases with temperatures as low as -93°C at the top of the layer. and this is where meteors usually burn up when they enter Earth’s atmosphere.


Thermosphere

The thermosphere is the upper most layer of the atmosphere.temperature increases with altitude, due to the many gases in this layer absorbing solar radiation. Temperatures can reach as high as 1,700°C.It is said that because of the extreme low pressure, a person would not feel the heat. This layer also produces auroras, which are natural bright colored display of lights in the sky. They are mainly seen at night and in the Polar Regions.

Earth Wealth Dynamics of the Earth

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Insolation, the effects of water, groundwater, springs

Geological factors external dynamics of the Earth:
-Radiation from the Sun-insolation,
-Water,
-Snow and ice,
-Effects of organisms

Insolation-illumination

Insolation to heat the rocks in the lithosphere and leads to expansion of certain mineral constituents.Stretching is not uniform because of various physical and chemical properties of minerals that build a rock, and is not uniform in depth of rock (on the surface is more intense).At night when there is no sunshine ,rocks cools and tightens.

Multiple repetition of heating and cooling of the cohesion forces between mineral-poor, resulting microcracks and cracks that are increasingly wider and deeper, until it finally came to the disintegration of rock.
Resistance of rocks to the impact of insulation depends on the mineral composition, structure and texture of rocks, vegetation, thickness of cover, relief and climate characteristics.
Effect of insolation is more pronounced in areas with large temperature differences between day and night in Coarse heterogeneous composition of the rocks.

WATER-atmospheric, surface and groundwater

Water participates in the destruction (physical and chemical)of rocks, transportation and accumulation of fragments and particles, thus affecting the characteristics of relief:
-in a humid area of its physical and chemical attack is most prominent,
- in the glacial area, works mostly mechanical (glaciers, rock disintegration by freezing water in cracks),
-in the arid area mechanically destroying the mechanism fragments and particles at small distances, and participates in the chemical dissolution of rock.