ESS102H1 Lecture 1: ESS205 Midterm Review - Lec 1
Document Summary
To assess the extent of current global change we must have the right tools (understand how global processes and earth systems work), the right context (understand how much the globe has changed) and understand the current issues. The rate of which something happens can be a gradual process (over millions of years) or rapid/ catastrophic events (seconds). It is important to understand that environmental change has been occurring forever and is the norm. A system is any assemblage or combination of interacting components. (ie human body acts as a system with the working on all organ systems together) The earth system has four major interacting parts with flows of matter and energy between them. They are: biosphere (life), hydrosphere (water), lithosphere (land, sediments, rocks) and atmosphere (air). The upper part of the earth, which interacts, with the other components of the earth system. Composition layers: crust, mantle, core (inner and outer) Atmosphere: a mixture of gases in the air.
