1. Earth’s Energy and Balance

2. What’s the Matter? How do Earth’s spheres interact?
Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earth’s Spheres
What’s the Matter?
How do Earth’s spheres interact?
All of the five spheres of Earth interact as matter and energy change and cycle through the system.
A result of these interactions is that they make life on Earth possible.
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3. How do Earth’s spheres interact?
Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earth’s Spheres
How do Earth’s spheres interact?
Earth’s spheres interact as matter moves between them. In some processes, matter moves through several spheres.
Earth’s spheres also interact as energy moves from one sphere to another, and back and forth between spheres.
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4. How do Earth’s spheres interact?
Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earth’s Spheres
How do Earth’s spheres interact?
How many parts of the Earth system can you identify in this image? How do they interact?
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5. Balancing the Budget What is the source of Earth’s energy?
Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earth’s Spheres
Balancing the Budget
What is the source of Earth’s energy?
Almost all of Earth’s energy comes from the sun.
A tiny fraction of Earth’s energy comes from ocean tides and geothermal sources such as lava and magma.
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6. What is the source of Earth’s energy?
Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earth’s Spheres
What is the source of Earth’s energy?
Energy is transferred between Earth’s spheres, but it is not created or destroyed.
Any addition of energy to one sphere must be balanced by an equal subtraction of energy from another sphere.
The movement of energy through Earth’s system forms an energy budget.
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7. What is the source of Earth’s energy?
Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earth’s Spheres
What is the source of Earth’s energy?
Trace the flow of energy through Earth’s system.
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8. What is the source of Earth’s energy?
Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earth’s Spheres
What is the source of Earth’s energy?
When Earth’s energy flow is balanced, global temperatures stay relatively stable over long periods of time.
Sometimes, changes in the system cause Earth’s energy budget to become unbalanced.
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9. What can disturb Earth’s energy budget?
Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earth’s Spheres
What can disturb Earth’s energy budget?
An increase in greenhouse gases traps more energy in the atmosphere and decreases the amount of energy radiated out to space.
Polar ice and glaciers reflect sunlight. When the ice melts, the exposed water and land absorb and then radiate more energy than the ice did.
In each case, Earth’s atmosphere becomes warmer, which may lead to climate changes.
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