Earth's battle and harmony with the Sun

Till today with so much of development and innovation, we know only little about our own solar system. We have so much to explore, to understand it better, to know what else lies and the mysteries it contains.Let's try to understand a little bit about the relationship between our earth and sun.

Earth, the only planet in our solar system where life is possible in all forms. It is the perfect distance from the sun not too close and not too far just at perfect distance so-called Goldilocks zone.

Sun the only star, the source of energy, the fuel of life. Sun gives us life to bloom but it can destroy anything too in a matter of second with its deadly solar wind, intense heat and light.

Have you ever wondered why solar wind created havoc on mars but here on earth we are safe which is closer to the sun than Mars. To understand this we have to understand the basic mechanism of earth and how it protects us from sun's intense heat, deadly UV rays, and solar winds.

How earth's magnetic field protects us -

The earth has it own magnetic field generated from its core and it stretched over thousands of kilometers into space.This magnetic field work like a shield which protects us from deadly cosmic radiation and solar winds, it deflects most of them back into space without reaching the earth's surface.

Magnetic fields are invisible to eyes but when solar wind meets earth magnetosphere a natural light produces and its visible in some high latitude regions, we call it Aurora, also known as northern light and southern light.

Without magnetic field protection, we are exposed to cosmic radiation and solar winds, which will badly affect our all navigational system, electronic devices, and power grid systems. Also, it can rip off the ozone layer without it life wouldn't be possible.A recent discovery suggests that there is also a second magnetic field surrounds us.

How Ozone Layer protects us-

Sun also gives us light but not all of them are useful to us like UV rays. There are three types of ultraviolet rays according to their wavelength namely UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C.

UV-A rays which have longer wavelength and closest to visible light reaches the earth surface. But shorter wavelength rays like UV-B, 95% of them absorbed by ozone layer its very harmful and cause skin burn and skin cancer. UV-C rays are the shortest wavelength and most harmful but luckily it completely absorbed by the ozone layer.

So Ozone layer is another protection mechanism of the earth to keep us safe and it's above 20 to 30 Kms above from the earth surface in stratosphere region.

So without the ozone layer, all types of UV rays will reach the earth, damaging DNA structure of all living things, cause skin cancer, photosynthesis would not be possible etc. So over time, all forms of life on land would die. Maybe for some aquatic animals in deep water life still would be possible because UV rays can't reach deep in the oceans.

Earth also maintain its temperature balance in the atmosphere. It has its own mechanism to keep everything in check and regulate everything properly, whether it is the tiny bubble of oxygen into the deep water or massive volcano eruption. Everything has to do something and a role to play, to keep everything in balance.

Green House Gases-

In our atmosphere, there are greenhouse gases like Carbon dioxide(CO2), Methane(CH4) and Nitrous oxide(N2O) and some others. CO2 is the main component of greenhouse gases because it's in higher concentration compared to other gases.These gases absorb the heat and keep the earth warm and it also essential for life growth.

Before industrial revolution the number of greenhouse gases was constant. But after industrial growth, burning of fossil fuels, deforestation etc. These things contributed to raising the concentration of CO2 and other gases than normal in our atmosphere. So the excess of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is the cause of global warming and climate change over time.

 


If you look closely, the earth is alive, living and breathing planet supporting all forms of life here. It's our only home in this vast universe. So It's our duty to keep it safe and beautiful as it is.

Happy Earth Day...