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  • What Keeps Us and Other Organisms Alive

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    John Arligue Bautista
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    The document discusses the four major components that make up Earth's life support system: the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere. It provides details on the layers of the atmosphere including the troposphere and stratosphere. It also describes the hydrosphere as all water on Earth's surface and in the air, including as liquid, ice, and vapor. The geosphere is defined as the planet's core, mantle and crust. The biosphere occupies the parts of the other spheres where life exists, including different biomes.

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    The document discusses the four major components that make up Earth's life support system: the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere. It provides details on the layers of the atmosphere including the troposphere and stratosphere. It also describes the hydrosphere as all water on Earth's surface and in the air, including as liquid, ice, and vapor. The geosphere is defined as the planet's core, mantle and crust. The biosphere occupies the parts of the other spheres where life exists, including different biomes.

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    20 views44 pages

    What Keeps Us and Other Organisms Alive

    Uploaded by

    John Arligue Bautista
    The document discusses the four major components that make up Earth's life support system: the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere. It provides details on the layers of the atmosphere including the troposphere and stratosphere. It also describes the hydrosphere as all water on Earth's surface and in the air, including as liquid, ice, and vapor. The geosphere is defined as the planet's core, mantle and crust. The biosphere occupies the parts of the other spheres where life exists, including different biomes.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 44

    What Keeps Us

    and Other
    Organisms
    Alive?
    The Earth’s life-
    support system has
    four major
    components.
    Atmosphere (air),
    Hydrosphere
    (water),
    Geosphere (rock,
    soil, sediment),
    Biosphere (living
    things)
    The Atmosphere
    is a thin spherical
    envelope of gases
    surrounding the
    earth’s surface.
    Its inner layer.
    The Troposphere,
    extends only about
    17 kilometers (11
    miles) above sea
    level at the tropics
    and about 7
    kilometers (4 miles)
    above the earth’s
    north and south
    poles.
    The remaining 1%
    of the air includes
    water vapor,
    carbon dioxide,
    and methane, all of
    which are called
    greenhouse gases.
    The next layer,
    stretching 17–50
    kilometers (11–31
    miles) above the
    earth’s surface, is
    the Stratosphere.
    Its lower portion
    contains enough
    ozone (O3) gas to
    filter out most of
    the sun’s harmful
    ultraviolet radiation.
    The Hydrosphere
    consists of all of
    the water on or
    near the earth’s
    surface. It is found
    as liquid water.
    (On the surface
    and underground),
    ice (polar ice,
    icebergs, and ice in
    frozen soil layers
    called permafrost),
    and water vapor in
    the atmosphere.
    The Geosphere
    consists of the
    earth’s intensely
    hot core, a thick
    mantle composed
    mostly of rock, and
    a thin outer crust.
    Most of the
    geosphere is
    located in the
    earth’s interior.
    The Biosphere
    occupies those
    parts of the
    atmosphere,
    hydrosphere, and
    geosphere where
    life exists.
    Biologists have
    classified the
    terrestrial (land)
    portion of the
    biosphere into
    biomes— large
    regions such as
    forests, deserts,
    and grasslands,
    with distinct
    climates and
    certain species
    (especially
    vegetation)
    adapted to them.
    The cycling of
    matter or nutrients
    (the atoms, ions,
    and compounds
    needed for survival
    by living
    organisms) through
    parts of the
    biosphere.
    The one-way flow
    of high-quality
    energy from the
    sun, through living
    things in their
    feeding
    interactions, into
    the environment as
    low-quality energy
    (mostly heat
    dispersed into air
    or water at
    a low temperature),
    and eventually
    back into space
    as heat.
    Gravity, which
    allows the planet to
    hold onto its
    atmosphere and
    helps to enable the
    movement and
    cycling of
    chemicals through
    the air, water, soil,
    and organisms.
    The earth-
    atmosphere energy
    balance is the
    balance between
    incoming energy
    from the Sun and
    outgoing energy
    from the Earth.
    Energy released
    from the Sun is
    emitted as
    shortwave light and
    ultraviolet energy.
    When it reaches
    the Earth, some is
    reflected back to
    space by clouds,
    some is absorbed
    by the atmosphere,
    and some is
    absorbed at the
    Earth's surface.

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