solar wind

Examples of solar wind in the following topics:

• Aurora Borealis and the Aurora Australis

  • The charged particles originate in the magnetosphere and solar wind and then are directed by the Earth's magnetic field into the atmosphere.
  • In northern latitudes, the effect is known as the aurora borealis (or the northern lights), named by Pierre Gassendi in 1621 after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for the north wind, Boreas.
  • They are ionized or excited by the collision of solar wind and magnetospheric particles (such as high energy protons and electrons) funneling down and accelerating along the Earth's magnetic field lines.
  • The solar wind consists of free, high-energy electrons and protons that originate at the sun.

• Present Sources of Energy

  • Some of that energy has been preserved as fossil energy and some is directly or indirectly usable, such as via wind, hydro- or wave power.
  • This value represents the total rate of solar power received by the planet, although only about half, 89 PW (PW = petawatt, which is equivalent to 1015 watts; a watt is equal to J/s), reaches the Earth's surface.
  • In 2008, 81% of our energy supply was from fossil fuels (33.5% oil, 26.8% coal, 20.8% gas, individually) while 12.9% was categorized as "other" (hydro, peat, solar, wind, geothermal power, biofuels, etc.), and 5.8% was nuclear.

• New Energy Sources

  • Renewable energy is energy that comes from natural resources, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat, which are all naturally replenished.
  • New renewables (small hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, and biofuels) account for another 3% and are growing very rapidly.
  • The use of wind power is increasing at an annual rate of 20%.
  • Since 2004, photovoltaics (solar cells) surpassed wind as the fastest growing energy source, and since 2007, the use of solar power has more than doubled every two years.
  • In addition, solar thermal power stations, which are power plants that generate electricity from the heat of the sun's rays, operate in the USA and Spain.

• Fuel Cells

  • If the electricity produced by clean, renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, is used to produce hydrogen, the energy can be stored more easily than in large battery complexes.

• Energy Consumption

  • According to this study, hydroelectricity produces the lowest CO2 emissions, wind produces the second lowest CO2 emissions, nuclear energy produces the third lowest, and solar photovoltaic produces the fourth lowest.
  • The study also found that the environmental and health costs of nuclear power, per unit of energy delivered, was €0.0019/kWh, which was found to be lower than that of many renewable sources including biomass and photovoltaic solar panels.
  • The energy source with the lowest associated external environmental and health costs was wind power at €0.0009/kWh.
  • A wind turbine is a device that converts the natural kinetic energy from the wind into electrical power.
  • Wind turbines provide a green source of alternative energy, as opposed to the burning of fossil fuels which contributes to climate change.

• Volcanoes

  • The ash can also make air travel difficult and be transferred over long distances by the wind, sometimes causing respiratory ailments such as asthma.
  • Sulfur dioxide is converted into aerosolized sulfuric acid, which reflects solar radiation and leads to atmospheric cooling, agricultural decline, and occasionally famine.

• The Greenhouse Effect

  • While about 30 percent of the solar radiation directed at the Earth scatters at the outer atmosphere, the remainder is either absorbed by clouds and atmospheric gases or is transmitted to the Earth's surface.
  • This thermal radiation from the surface has a much longer wavelength than the solar radiation that was initially absorbed.

• The Law of Unintended Consequences

  • Clock-wise circulation of currents driven by the global wind system and constrained by surrounding continents form a vortex or gyre comparable to a large whirlpool.
  • Nurdles, lentil-size pellets of plastic, found in abundance where plastics are manufactured and distributed, are dispersed by wind throughout the biosphere.

• Properties of Nitrogen

  • Nitrogen is a common element in the universe, estimated at about seventh in total abundance in our galaxy and the solar system.
  • Due to the volatility of elemental nitrogen and its compounds with hydrogen and oxygen, nitrogen is far less common on the rocky planets of the inner solar system and is a relatively rare element on Earth.

• Elemental Boron

  • As a result, it is a low-abundance element in both the solar system and the Earth's crust.