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3 years ago

How do Earth's ecosystems resist the flow toward maximum entropy?

Biology

1 answer:

Mrac [35]3 years ago

4 0

Answer:

c. Plants continually add energy to an ecosystem using photosynthesis, which converts the sun's energy into usable energy.

Explanation:

The first thermodynamic law states that energy does not create or destroy, it transforms. The total energy in an isolated system keeps invariable, but the quality of the energy (exergy) might vary.
The second thermodynamic law stated that if there is any process in a system there, the energy quality (exergy) must degrade. Any real process might only proceed in one direction that conducts to an increase in entropy.

Entropy: Thermodynamic magnitude that indicates the degree of the molecular disorder in a system.

Exergy: Measure of the maximum capacity of an energy system to produce useful work from a certain energy amount, as it balances with its environment.

Ecosystems are the biotic, physical, and chemical components of nature, acting together as disipative processes out of balance. According to the second thermodynamic low, ecosystem development should increase the degradation of energy.

Vegetable growth helps to capture solar energy and dissipate useful gradients. Many times, plants of many species are arranged in such a way that they increase together the foliar surface to optimize capture and energy degradation. Most of the plants´ energy is destined to evapotranspiration, which is the main dissipative pathway in terrestrial ecosystems

The geographical distribution of species richness is highly correlated to the annual evapotranspiration potential. This relationship between species and exergy suggests a close link between biodiversity and dissipative processes. The more exergy is available among species, the more available energy degrading paths will be. Trophic levels and food chains are based on fixed photosynthetic material and the subsequent dissipation of those gradients. There will be a higher species´diversity in places where there is more available exergy.

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3 years ago

How long does it take for sedimentary rock to melt into magma

Sindrei [870]

Answer:

1.3 million years

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3 years ago

Stion

vovangra [49]

Answer:

O The neuron has more potassium ions inside than outside.

Explanation:

The membrane resting potential is defined as the difference in electrical charge between the interior of neurons and their outer environment. In neurons, both sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) pumps contribute to generating the resting potential. Neurons have a higher concentration of K+ inside than outside and a higher concentration of Na+ outside than inside. When a neuron is at its rest state, where the inside is negative with respect to the outside, its membrane is more permeable to K+ than Na+, and therefore the resting membrane potential is closer to the equilibrium potential of K+.

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3 years ago

How does the greenhouse effect affect climate change

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Earth's temperature depends on the balance between energy entering and leaving the planet’s system. When incoming energy from the sun is absorbed by the Earth system, Earth warms. When the sun’s energy is reflected back into space, Earth avoids warming. When absorbed energy is released back into space, Earth cools. Many factors, both natural and human, can cause changes in Earth’s energy balance, including:

Variations in the sun's energy reaching EarthChanges in the reflectivity of Earth’s atmosphere and surfaceChanges in the greenhouse effect, which affects the amount of heat retained by Earth’s atmosphere

These factors have caused Earth’s climate to change many times.

Scientists have pieced together a record of Earth’s climate, dating back hundreds of thousands of years (and, in some cases, millions or hundreds of millions of years), by analyzing a number of indirect measures of climate such as ice cores, tree rings, glacier lengths, pollen remains, and ocean sediments, and by studying changes in Earth’s orbit around the sun.

This record shows that the climate system varies naturally over a wide range of time scales. In general, climate changes prior to the Industrial Revolution in the 1700's can be explained by natural causes, such as changes in solar energy, volcanic eruptions, and natural changes in greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations.

Recent climate changes, however, cannot be explained by natural causes alone. Research indicates that natural causes do not explain most observed warming, especially warming since the mid-20thcentury. Rather, it is extremely likely that human activities have been the dominant cause of that warming. Hope i was helpful.

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3 years ago