Earth Science Essay

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To begin this essay we can say that the earth sciences are responsible for the

systematic study of the natural phenomena that take place on the surface of the
planet, in its interior and in the space that surrounds it, its orientation is focused
towards the understanding of the origin and dynamics of natural phenomena
such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, cyclones, climatic
fluctuations, meteorological phenomena and their relationship with agriculture,
the comfort and security of the inhabitants.

On the other hand, this subject is an area of knowledge that brings together
those sciences whose purpose is the study of the composition, structure,
dynamics, evolution of the planet and relationships with the other components of
the solar system. Through earth sciences, the necessary knowledge can be
obtained to understand the behavior and relationships between the different
geospheres of the planet, to avoid inferring about their natural functioning. Some
Earth scientists use their knowledge of the earth to locate and develop energy and
mineral resources. Others study the impact of human activity on the Earth's
environment and design methods to protect the planet.

However . *Insert importance of earth sciences*.

Likewise, earth sciences are constantly evolving. Geography as the elements of


the earth's surface without linking them through processes, and little importance
was given to the dynamics of changes and interaction with the elements that
make up the environment. During the first centuries of European exploration, a
stage of much more detailed knowledge of the continents and oceans began. For
example, magnetic alignments in the Atlantic Ocean were mapped in detail, which
would be very useful for intercontinental navigation. In 1596, for example, the
hypothesis of continental drift, precursor of the theory of plate tectonics.
Previously, Spanish and Portuguese explorers had accumulated detailed
knowledge of the Earth's magnetic field. The birth of the basic concepts of
geology, in the 17th and 18th centuries, or meteorology, gave way to an explosion
in the study of the Earth. Today, Earth sciences are a further extension of the
quantitative physical sciences based on empiricism, experimentation and the
reproducibility of observations.

On the other hand , a characteristic of Earth sciences compared to other


disciplines is that, as their object of study is enormous on a human scale, they are
limited to observations made on its surface (or near it) and currently, That is, we
are limited to studying a dimensional object (the earth), from only two of its
dimensions. Earth sciences are therefore sciences traditionally limited by the
difficulty of obtaining data, although in recent years, technological development
There are new possibilities of sources of information about the past and the
interior of the planet. Added to the above , the varied space-time scales of the
structure and history of the Earth mean that the processes that take place on it are
the result of a complex interaction between processes of different spatial scales
(from millimeters to thousands of kilometers). ) and time scales that range from
hundredths of a second to billions of years, an example of this complexity is the
different mechanical behavior that some rocks have depending on the processes
being studied: while the rocks that make up the upper mantle They respond
elastically to the passage of seismic waves (with typical periods of fractions of a
second), they respond like a fluid on the time scales of plate tectonics, another
example of the wide range of time scales is climate change, which occurs in
periods ranging from millions of years to a few years, where it is confused with the
scales of meteorological change. Also , since the object of study (the Earth) is not
manipulable, obtaining direct data becomes limited. In this same line, Earth
sciences constitute a tool to plan a rational exploitation of natural resources,
understand the causes that originate natural phenomena that affect human beings
and how human beings influence nature with their actions. On the other hand ,
they are the way to understand the natural processes that have threatened human
life.

It is important to add that gaps in the disciplines that study earth sciences could
be: Geophysics (study of the planet from the point of view of physics) Geology
(studies things related to rocks, the subsoil, earthquakes, volcanoes and fossils)
Geomorphology (studies the shapes of the earth's surface.) Geography (studies
the relationship and interaction of the earth's surface with man) Hydrology
(studies the distribution, spatial and temporal, and the properties of the water
present in the atmosphere and in the earth's crust) Paleontology (studies the
fossils of plants and animals) Oceanography (studies waves, tides, currents,
trenches and marine life.) Soil science (studies the soil as a natural resource)
Climatology (study of the current Earth's climate and in the geological past.)
Meteorology (study of atmospheric dynamics and meteorological weather)

In short, we are far from knowing our planet, the Earth, despite the great
development achieved by the various disciplines that are responsible for its study.
It is encouraging that the current state of geosciences substantially surpasses that
of ten years ago and surely by the beginning of the 21st century we will have
much more valuable information. To this we include that man has become more
vulnerable to natural disasters, not because they are increasing, but because of
the same human activity that causes the growth of cities, the creation of gigantic
engineering works and the alteration of the balance of nature.

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