Lecture 15

• The atmosphere


  This part of the Earth system includes the mixture of gases that surround the planet.
• The Biosphere: 


  This part of the Earth system includes all living things, including plants, animals, and other organisms.
• The Geosphere 


  This part of the Earth system includes the crust, mantle and inner and outer core.
• The hydrosphere


  This is the planet's water, including oceans, lakes, rivers, groundwater, ice and water vapor.
• The Biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems
• the biosphere is the zone of life on Earth, integrating all living beings and their relationships
• the biosphere is a largely self-regulating system with input from the sun, cosmic radiation and heat from the interior of the Earth
• basic drivers of climate

  sunlight intensity

  • a key component of climate
  • affects global winds, precipitation patterns and ocean circulation
• a biome is a distinct biological community that has formed in response to a shared physical climate
• the biome concept organises large-scale ecological variation. Terrestrial biomes are distinguished primarily by their predominant vegetation, and are mainly determined by temperature and rainfall