Carbon Cycle - [How it Works + Facts] - Science4Fun

Carbon is the most useful element for living things and many geological processes. It is has been placed as the
19th most abundant element on our Earth’s crust. It is found in many materials, e.g. carbon dioxide, coal, living things,
and lime, etc. The carbon moves across the Earth in a cycle called the carbon cycle.

What is the Carbon Cycle?

The carbon cycle is a process that happens continuously all around the Earth. In this cycle, the carbon moves
between living things, land, water, and atmosphere in the form of various compounds. The carbon cycle is important
in sustaining all kinds of living things on the Earth. For example, we humans breathe oxygen and exhale carbon
dioxide to the atmosphere. Whereas, plants absorb that carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and gives oxygen gas.

How Carbon Moves In Carbon Cycle

There are various ways in which carbon moves across the Earth. Some methods supply carbon to atmosphere, land,
water, and living things, whereas other methods take carbon from these things.

Carbon moves to the atmosphere, water, land, living things in several ways. Some of them are:

 Combustion of fuel.
 Breathing of oxygen by land animals and marine animals.
 Eating of food by animals.
 Some marine animals use carbonic acid to make their shells.

The processes in which carbon is taken out of the atmosphere, water, land, and animals are:

 Photosynthesis of plants.
 Absorption of carbon dioxide in oceans, lakes, and raindrops.
 Some geological processes also generate oxygen.
 Decaying of dead animals.

How Carbon Cycle Is Affected By Humans?

Power plants are polluting the atmosphere

After the advent of successful engines in the 18 th century, the consumption of fossil fuel has increased. Since then,
the consumption has increased exponentially, which moved more carbon to the atmosphere than it is taken-out. As a
result, the natural balance of the carbon cycle has been disturbed and it has also caused global warming. The other
way in which humans affect the carbon cycle is by certain industrial processes that release carbon dioxide further in
the atmosphere.

It is highly advisable to shift from inefficient and conventional methods of transportation and industrial operations to
efficient and green methods. This way the impact on the carbon cycle can be reduced.

Facts

 Due to human activities, the level of carbon dioxide concentration has crossed 400 ppm (part per million).
This is almost double the highest level rise of carbon dioxide for the past 1 million years.
 The body of an average-sized person is roughly made of 18% carbon atoms.
 Most of the carbon on the Earth is present in the crust. But some geological evidence suggests that carbon
is also present in the core of the Earth in the form of iron carbide.

Cite this Page

Abdul Wahab, "Carbon Cycle," in Science4Fun, September 12, 2020, https://science4fun.info/carbon-cycle/.

Water Cycle: (Steps, Importance, Effects, and Facts) - Science4Fu

Our earth has abundant water on its surface. This water is in form of oceans, rivers, lakes, and glaciers. But, the only small percentage of water is
freshwater that we drink and use. The rest of the water lies in oceans which is very salty. Have you ever thought, how this freshwater reaches us? We
get this freshwater in a cyclic process called water cycle.

What is Water Cycle?

The water cycle is a continuous process that happens all the time around the earth. This process is very crucial in delivering the water from oceans to
lands, and back again. For example, the water you see in the rivers, lakes, and glaciers is available to us due to the water cycle.

There are various methods through which the water circulates around the earth. Some methods bring the water from land to the atmosphere and
form clouds. While other methods bring water back to ground on various places. This way the water is distributed across the whole planet.

How Water Moves to Atmosphere

Water moves to the atmosphere in form of vapors (gaseous state) from all around the earth – leaving behind all the salts and other impurities. There
are 3 main methods that can transport water from land to atmosphere.

1. Evaporation
This is the most important method than other two. This method is responsible for 90% of the water vapors that are produced around the
earth. Evaporation happens at the surface of the water – where atmosphere touches it. As the air moves above the surface of the water, it
takes away the some of the water with them as vapors. The hot water evaporates quicker than the cold water. Our sun provides
heat energy all the time to earth. When sunlight reaches oceans, lakes, and rivers, it raises their temperature and speed-up the evaporation.
The major portion of the water in the atmosphere comes from oceans. These oceans cover 71% of the earth’s surface. All the freshwater –
that we get – is indirectly taken from oceans.
 2. Sublimation
This method only works with ice or snow. Sublimation is a process in which the ice is directly converted into vapors (gaseous state) –
without moving through the liquid The sublimation process is favored by cold temperature and high wind speed with sunlight.

3. Transpiration
It is similar to evaporation. But instead of groundwater, evaporation happens on the leaves of plants. Plants release a lot of water on their
leaves – due to some cellular processes. This water is then evaporated into the atmosphere.

How Water Moves Across Land

Now the water has been transported into the atmosphere by various methods. But, how this water come back to the land and moves across it? Let’s
discuss them.

 Precipitation
This is the process in which water vapors that escaped from the land, come back. It happens due to condensation of the water vapors.
When vapors rise above the land, they form clouds. Vapors start to condense in the clouds and form the tiny droplets. These tiny droplets
attach to each other and form big These big droplets are heavy enough to fall back on the land – which is also called raining. Precipitation
is not always in form of rain, but it is also in form of snow, sleet, and hail – depending on the weather of the region.

 Rivers
Rivers play the main role in distributing the water across the land. The precipitation on mountains and melt-down of glaciers gather very large amount
of freshwater. This freshwater flows down the high altitude regions towards low altitude region through a path. People usually carry and store the
needed water, and rest of the water flows down towards oceans.

 Water Storage
This is also an important part of the water cycle in which water is stored naturally. The stored fresh water is in form of glaciers, snow caps.
This water is stored on top of mountains – where the temperature is low. Precipitation also occurs on these high mountains, but due to low
temperature, the water is in solid form (ice). When the temperature of these regions increases – due to weather – we get the liquid water
flowing in the rivers.

Importance of Water Cycle

So far, we have discussed the water cycle technically. But it is necessary to discuss its importance in everyday life. All the humans, animals, and plants
around the earth have access to fresh water – that’s why we are alive. For example, we humans get the water from rivers, ground, or direct
precipitation. All the plants in the jungle need periodic precipitation to stay alive. Animals need ponds or lakes for drinking water. These all the things
are possible only due to the natural water cycle.

Effects of Pollution on WaterPower plants are polluting the atmosphere

Today, human-caused activities have caused very adverse effects on the natural water cycle. The most harmful activity that humans are causing
is carbon emission – that is a greenhouse gas. Carbon emission cause global warming. As a result, the average temperature of the earth is rising, and
glaciers are melting at a higher rate than they are forming. It will cause water shortages in near future. The disturbance in water cycle is so severe that
many regions have no precipitation at all – that used to have regular precipitation. While some regions have more than normal precipitation, causing
floods.

The second disastrous effect is caused by pollution. Pollution of land, water, and atmosphere increase the toxicity of fresh water. As a result, the health
and life of animals, marine, plants, and even humans have damaged severely.

For more information on global warming and pollution go to:

Facts

 It is estimated that transpiration accounts for 10% of the vapors in the atmosphere.
 Underground water resources are called aquifers. These aquifers are replenished by water cycle. The water in aquifers can remain there for
thousands of years – sometimes millions of years.
 Clouds may contain water in all three states (solid, liquid, and gas) at the same time.
 The water that earth got at the time of its formation is the same water that you drink today – even dinosaurs drank that water too.
 Our earth has only 3% freshwater, from which only 30% is in the liquid state – the rest of the fresh water is in glaciers and ice caps.

Cite this Page

Abdul Wahab, "Water Cycle," in Science4Fun, September 11, 2020, https://science4fun.info/water-cycle/.

Global Warming - (Effects + Causes + Facts) - Science4Fun

There many things powerful enough to disturb the life on the Earth. Earth quakes, Tsunamis,
volcanic eruptions, terrorism and nuclear blasts etc. All these forces affect the land, even the
continent but their effects are quite localized.

When we turn towards the changes in temperature of earth the whole story changes, it
represents the greater threat than anything else humans have faced in recent time.

Global warming is the gradual rise of the earth’s average temperature. Its effects on the life are
very devastating, forcing many species throughout the globe into extinction, making them
harder to survive.

Earth has gone through many temperature changes before and several ice ages. The
temperature changes in small amount but the impacts are very large. When earth warmed up, it
melted the ice. When its temperature decrease, ice builds up.

Effects of Global Warming

These are the few effects of global warming.

 Glaciers melting

Rise in Ocean level – Melting glaciers rise the level of ocean and cause flooding in coastal
regions.

Animal migration – Which cause the food chain to be disturbed and may cause extinction.

Ecosystem changes

Causes of Global Warming

effects-of-greenhouse-gas

Global warming is mainly caused by greenhouse effect. A greenhouse keeps its inside air hotter
than the atmosphere. Earth’s atmosphere acts much like the same way because its
atmosphere contains greenhouse gases. The Surface of the earth is heated when sun is
shining but when sunsets, greenhouses traps heat and keep the atmosphere and surface of
earth hotter.

Greenhouse effect support the life because it keeps the heat trapped in the atmosphere.
Problems occur when the amount of greenhouse gases increase in the atmosphere, which
traps more heat than it is necessary and rise the average temperature of earth.

As humans are developing, their consumption of fossil fuel is increasing, which is producing a
lot of carbon dioxide gas (a greenhouse gas). Amount of carbon dioxide in the globe has
increased to 380 ppm from 280 ppm since industrial time. Another reason is the reduction in
the number of trees by human activities. Trees consume carbon dioxide in photosynthesis
process to make food.

Now amount of carbon dioxide gas is increasing and number of trees is decreasing, it is definitely
increasing the average temperature of earth and putting the life on the earth in danger.
 Tidal Energy - (Information + Advantages + Disadvantages) -
Science4Fun

What is Tidal Energy

Tidal energy or tidal power is a source of renewable energy, obtained from the tides of an

ocean. It is sometimes called another form of hydropower because it uses the energy of
tides, which are made of water to generate power. These tides are produced in the ocean
because of the gravitational pull of our moon and the Sun. These gravitational pulls cause
the water to move across the different oceans, resulting in the development of tides.

Ran
ge of tides
Tides are full of energy due to their motion. This energy is harnessed with the use of special
devices, such as tidal turbines to generate electricity or mechanical power. The main
advantage of generating power from the tides is that they are reliable and highly
predictable. Unlike wind power, in which winds are unpredictable. Tidal energy is considered
as a type of renewable energy source because we do not consume the tides in generating
power from them.

Using Tides for Generating Power

The concept of using the tidal energy for generating power is not new. Romans had known
how to generate power from the tides. For this, they had built tide mills to generate
mechanical power for grinding and other purposes. But, generating electricity from tides is
a new concept. Only few power generating stations are producing electricity from them.

Tidal mill

Methods of Generating Electricity

There are three main methods for generating electricity from the tides. Each method has its
own advantages, depending on the geographical locations.
Tidal Stream

Tidal stream electricity

generation

Tidal streams (flowing bodies of water) that are created by the tides can be used to produce
electricity. For this, tidal stream turbines are used to convert the flow of the stream into the
electricity. These turbines are placed underwater and are fixed to the seabed for their
support.

Tidal stream causes the blades of the turbine to rotate, much like a wind But, water is
denser than air, which makes its flow more powerful. Also, the blades of the tidal turbine are
allowed to rotate much slower than a wind turbine Which helps sea creatures to avoid being
caught in its blades.

Placing the tidal turbines in shallow water near the shore proves to be more effective.
Furthermore, it allows the ships to go around them. As a result, the hazard of their crashing
is decreased. The first power to use the tidal stream is located in Northern Ireland.
Tidal Barrage

Tid
al Barrage

In this method, a dam-like structure known as tidal barrage is built. Tidal barrages are used
to store and release water during high tides and low tides. The water is stored and released
through the blades of the turbines that rotate to produce electricity. These turbines work in
the same way like turbines in the dam. But, their rotation speed is much faster than the tidal
stream turbines (discussed previously). The working example of the tidal barrage is the tidal
power plant located at Rance River estuary in France.

The main disadvantage of the tidal barrage is that it affects the environment significantly.
Also, It disturbs the life of sea creatures, and many sea creatures can be caught in the fast
rotating blades of the turbine.

Tidal Lagoon

In this method, an artificial barrier is made to enclose some area of the ocean near the
coastline which is known as a tidal Tidal lagoon works in the same way like the tidal
barrage i.e. turbines will work during filling and emptying of water in the lagoon. But, there
no working example of generating electricity in this way. Although, china is building a tidal
lagoon power plant near its border with North Korea at Yalu River.
Tidal lagoons have a low impact on the environment as compared to tidal barrages. When
high tides arrive these lagoons completely submerge in the ocean, allowing sea creatures to
swim across it.

Advantages of Tidal Energy

 Tidal energy is a type of renewable energy, which doesn’t pollute the atmosphere.

 The tides are highly predictable, which allow the engineers to design a power plant
that can operate for years. Unlike the winds, which are unpredictable.
 Tidal barrages may also protect land against flooding during high tides.

Disadvantages of Tidal Energy

 The main problem with the development of tidal power plant is the cost of building
its structures and the cost special machinery, which is required to produce
electricity.
 Power generating stations can be built only at the few sites that are suitable for
power generation.
 Tidal power plants are harmful to the marine life.

Cite this Page

Abdul Wahab, "Tidal Energy," in Science4Fun, September 10,

2020, https://science4fun.info/tidal-energy/.

Composition of the Earth: (Structure + Layers + Facts) -

Science4Fun
Planet Earth

Our Earth is a unique planet in the solar system, and also in the known universe because it supports life. Life on
the Earth has been evolving since 3.5 billion years ago. Because our Earth has got every ingredient for the life to
emerge.
Our Earth is not a solid piece of rock, like an iron ball. But instead, it is made up of several layers. Each layer has its
own physical and chemical properties. Each layer plays an important to make the Earth look like as we know it today.

Layers of the Earth

Internal structure of the Earth

Our Earth is divided into four main layers. Each layer with its own unique physical properties. These layers are Crust,
Mantle, Outer core, and Inner core. Let’s dig into these layers and find out what they are made of.

Crust

This is the layers on which you stand on. All the mountain, jungles and oceans you know are carried on this layer. It is
the thinnest layer of the four layers. This layer is 70 Km thick on the land, and 5 Km thick at some ocean floors. The
crust is mostly composed of silica, alumina, lime, magnesia, and iron oxide (rust).

Mantle

This layer starts below the crust layer, and is denser than the crust. It is 3,000 Km in thickness. It is mostly made of
silicate rocks rich in magnesium and iron. This layer is not a perfectly solid. At some locations, the rock is completely
melted, which is called magma. When this magma reaches near the crust, it erupts as Lava from the volcanoes.

In this layer, rocks are in constant motion. They rise and sink due to internal heat from the core, and set up the
convective currents. These convective currents also cause the tectonic plates to move and crash into each other
causing earthquakes.

Outer Core

This layer of the Earth is in a liquid state at a temperature of 5000 C. This layer is mostly made of iron and nickel.
Both of these two metal are in a liquid state due to intense heat.

The outer core is always in constant circulatory motion, which creates a magnetic field around the Earth. This
magnetic field protects our Earth from the Sun’s deadly wind.

Without this layers, our Earth couldn’t have a magnetic field. Without this magnetic field, our Earth could never
have atmosphere, oceans, and life.

Inner Core

This is the hottest layer of the Earth, reaching a temperature of 7000 C; much hotter than the surface of the Sun. It is
also composed of iron and nickel metal. But, this layer is in the solid state. Despite the fact that, it is the hottest part
of the Earth. This is because the inner core is under tremendous pressure due to the weight of the other layers.

Facts

 Earth is the only planet, where life is found.

 It is the third planet from the Sun.
 It has only one moon, called Luna.

Cite this Page

Abdul Wahab, "Composition of the Earth," in Science4Fun, September 10, 2020, https://science4fun.info/composition-

of-the-earth/.
 Clouds - (Information + Fun Facts) - Science4Fun
What are Clouds?

We often talk about the weather in terms sunny day or cloudy one. Clouds cover the sky and block the sunlight from
passing through them. These clouds are made of tiny droplets of water and ice crystals.

Clouds float above in the atmosphere. Sometimes their color is white and sometimes dark. The Study of the clouds
and their formation helps in predicting the weather accurately.

How Clouds form?

Hot air has the capability of holding more water than the cold air. When the hot air rises above in the atmosphere and
cools again, the water that it carries condenses into the small droplets. As a result, the clouds is formed.

How do clouds float?

Clouds are made of very small droplets. These droplets fall very slowly, much like dust specs. But, the hot constantly
rise above, which also rise the droplets again. This results into the floating droplets that don’t fall and continue to
remain above in the atmosphere.
Types of Clouds

There are the 10 types of clouds according to their level in the atmosphere. These types are:

1. High Clouds: These clouds are mostly in frozen form. They are formed 20,000 feet above the ground. The
types of high clouds are Cirrus, Cirrocumulus, and Cirrostratus.
2. Middle Clouds: This cloud is made of both water droplets and ice crystals. They form between 6,500 and
20,000 feet above the ground. Middle clouds include altostratus, altocumulus, and nimbostratus.
3. Low Clouds: These are low lying clouds which form below the 6,500 feet altitude. They are mostly made of
droplets. These clouds include stratus and stratocumulus.
4. Vertical Clouds: These are the longest clouds which are formed 1,000 feet above the ground. But, their size
increases up to 60,000 feet high. This type of clouds includes cumulus and cumulonimbus.

Fun Facts

 When the clouds are formed on the ground, they are called fog.
 When rain and snow fall the clouds, it is called precipitation.
 Clouds can have millions of tons of water stored in them.
 Other chemicals can also make clouds. Jupiter’s and Saturn’s clouds are mostly made of ammonia.

Cite this Page

Abdul Wahab, "Clouds," in Science4Fun, September 10, 2020, https://science4fun.info/clouds/.