Earth Science Overview

Earth Science is the branch of natural sciences that deals with the study of planet Earth, specifically its rocks, oceans, climate, geography, atmosphere, magnetosphere, and life. It combines ideas from many other fields such as physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology, mathematics, ecology, paleontology, climatology, meteorology, geophysics, astrogeology, oceanography, volcanology, glaciology, geodesy, cartographer, and other disciplines related to the physical environment and human interactions with it. In essence, earth science studies everything under the sun—the air we breathe, the ground beneath our feet, the water around us, and even the stars above—and tries to understand how they all fit together. It encompasses a wide range of subjects including geology, which focuses on the formation of rocks and minerals; hydrology, which concentrates on the properties and behavior of water within and outside the Earth's surface; climatology, concerned with weather patterns over time scales ranging from hours to centuries; tectonics, studying the processes by which continents move and collide; and more recently, environmental science, exploring ways to protect and preserve our home planet. Additionally, earth scientists measure things like temperature, ice thickness, sea level rise, and atmospheric composition using satellites orbiting the Earth to help people make better decisions about living in their world. Hence, understanding Earth is fundamental to establishing predictive models for future events and responding effectively to changing conditions.