There are four spheres of earth and we will learn about each in detail.
Table of Contents
Spheres of Earth
The hydrosphere
Hydro means water. The Hydrosphere includes all the water that covers our planet. There is a lot of water. Seriously, there is a lot of it and scientists say the total amount of water on Earth is about 1386 million cubic kilometers! Now that is a huge number.
Approximately 75 percent of the earth’s surface (dear Lord that’s huge) is covered in water, which includes groundwater and also other subterranean cavities like frozen water underneath the surface as well as ice caps.
Of course, oceans are what most people know as water. We seem to overlook the fact the planet we live on is a water planet. Water, in all of its forms, sustains all life here. One often forgets about water until one lacks it. Imagine how many things and places would be left if we didn’t have any water.
Water makes up more than 70% of our body weight, yet most people only care about it when they get thirsty and can’t find their next source of hydration! So let’s take a moment to soak this in and acknowledge the role that the hydrosphere plays in our daily lives.
Living cells
Cells are generally made up of about 75% water and so, when it comes to being healthy, we need to have enough water for our cells to work properly. Without consuming enough water our cells wouldn’t be able to deliver any nutrients as they would simply be dehydrated and unable to deliver oxygen effectively.
The water within each cell is also crucial for our bodies to stabilize their temperature because it acts as a heat conductor. It’s safe to say that all cellular activity would grind to a halt if there weren’t enough liquid around!
Human use
Water is human lifeblood. Humans use water in ways to help sustain their daily lives. Drinking water is by far the most obvious way that humans utilize water.
But it is not restricted to being a key part of our existence only; water also plays a vital role in almost every industrial process that has taken place since the industrial revolution like generating electricity through hydropower and has been arguably the single most crucial element in enabling the prosperity of humanity across our vast history.
Water is additionally utilized in day-to-day domestic applications, like washing dishes or cleaning up after things have been spilled, and in the business world.
Ecosystem
The hydrosphere maintains an enclosed system around the Earth and allows life to thrive by providing a place for plants, animals, and other living things to grow and exist.
Nutrients like ammonium and nitrite, and gases like carbon dioxide, and oxygen, are dissolved to create this environment. The presence of these substances is essential in creating a habitable ecosystem within the hydrosphere.
Helps in regulating the climate
When the air reaches a high enough temperature, the water becomes vapor and forms a cloud. Once the water is in the form of a cloud, precipitation can form. This process of evaporation and condensation is called the water cycle, and it’s responsible for regulating temperatures.
The atmosphere
It is the thin layer of air that is located between the earth’s surface and outer space. It is composed mostly of nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and other inert gases. The atmosphere is usually referred to as the “exosphere,” or the “upper atmosphere.”
It extends from the Earth’s surface to about 50 kilometers (30 miles) above the surface. The atmosphere is a complex mixture of gases that surrounds our planet. The composition of the atmosphere changes constantly, and its state can have significant effects on our weather, ecosystems, and human health.
The troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere and it is composed of nitrogen, oxygen, argon, helium, neon, krypton, and xenon. The average temperature of the atmosphere of the earth is 288 K.
What is the difference between the average temperature of the atmosphere of the earth and the temperature of the earth’s surface? The difference between the average temperature of the atmosphere of the earth and the temperature of the earth’s surface is 1 K.
The biosphere
All the life on earth comes under the biosphere. The Biosphere of the Earth is the living environment of the planet. It includes the air, water, and land that sustain life.
The biosphere is composed of a system of interacting organisms, their physical environment, and the abiotic factors that support life.
The Biosphere is the global ecosystem. It includes all life and non-living things that live on the Earth’s surface. The biosphere is divided into three zones: the surface, the biosphere of the oceans, and the biosphere of the atmosphere. The surface of the earth is the land, the oceans, and the ice caps.
The land surface includes the soil and the vegetation. The land surface is the main habitat of the life of the planet. The Biosphere of the oceans includes the oceans, the coastal zones, and the polar seas.
The geosphere
The geosphere includes everything from the dry land to the bottom of the oceans, as well as the minerals, mountains, lava, and magma beneath the Earth’s crust. The geosphere is constantly undergoing infinite processes that modify other spheres.
One example of this is the rock cycle. In this process, minerals turn into sedimentary rock, sedimentary rock turns into metamorphic rock, and metamorphic rock turns into magma. Magma turns into lava and composes the crust of the Earth. As lava cools and hardens, it can turn into solid land. This is the constant cycle the geosphere goes through.
Humans are within the biosphere and the geosphere. This means that humans are only able to live where there is enough oxygen and food to survive.
Humans have had a huge hand in polluting the air and water. We have been polluting the water for a long time and we are just now really understanding the enormous impacts. It’s important to understand what is happening in the other spheres to be able to make our planet a better place as a whole.
Read: 4 spheres of earth
