Earth science

Earth science is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the study of the earth and of the universe around it, making it a wide scientific discipline covering all facets of how the earth works. It is a special case in planetary science as the earth is the only known life-bearing planet. Earth Science is also known as the Earth Sciences, Geoscience, and the Geosciences.

There are four major disciplines in earth sciences, namely geography, geology, geophysics and geodesy. These major disciplines use physics, chemistry, biology, chronology and mathematics to build a quantitative understanding of the principal areas or spheres of the Earth system.

Let me give you a brief idea about the various disciplines of earth science. Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation to the use and management of soils

Geography is the study of the Earth and its lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena. A literal translation would be “to describe or write about the Earth”. Our historical traditions in geographical research are the spatial analysis of natural and human phenomena (geography as a study of distribution), area studies (places and regions), study of man-land relationship, and research in earth sciences.

The stratosphere is the second major layer of Earth’s atmosphere, just above the troposphere, and below the mesosphere. It is stratified in temperature, with warmer layers higher up and cooler layers farther down.

Geodesy, also called geodetics, a branch of earth sciences, is the scientific discipline that deals with the measurement and representation of the Earth, including its gravitational field, in a three-dimensional time-varying space.

Well, above is a description about earth science and its’ major branches. The study of Earth Science is vital to understand our “Mother Earth” properly and to develop a responsibility for preserving and maintaining the biodiversity and natural habitat.




By: Michael