Luis Blog 2016: Earth Science and it Applications

Earth Science and it Applications

As we know, science is a discipline that consists of many specialties. One of these specialties is Earth science, the science that studies Earth. Although this branch is associated with geology, Earth science is a broader and more comprehensive study of all the Earth. This means, that geology is more specific in the study of the composition and formation of Earth. It is for this reason that Earth science has different applications.

The applications of Earth science are varied. We can identify many sub-branches into this general branch. For example, geology is the study of Earth from a more specific study, this is a related application. Meteorology and climatology are disciplines specialized in the weather and climate patterns, respectively. Earth science also studies water in the planet. Oceanography has the objective to study everything related with the oceans and seas and it interrelates with biology, geology, chemistry and physics; hydrology also studies the water, but only the one present on the Earth’s surface. The natural resources are also an important part of this science, these determinate the energy sources available for human use. Astronomy also has interrelationship with terrestrial studies. Another important application is geography that studies the human interaction with the nature environment.

Like any natural science, Earth science is based on the use of the scientific method. This method consists on a series of steps to resolve a hypothesis with an experiment, with the aim of analyzing the data to support or rule out this hypothesis. With the use of this process we can answer questions like: What is it?, When?, Where?, How? and Why?. Questions as: How sedimentary rocks are formed?, Why the waves are generated?, or Where is it the highest frequency of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean? are some of many questions that scientists have grappled. This and other questions are answered mostly with the aid of the scientific method.

Earth science is an essential discipline to the other sciences and therefore for humanity. It is responsible for studying the nature and how the humans interact with environment. Also natural phenomena and disasters that affect us directly or indirectly are studied by this science branch. Throughout history human beings have tried to understand nature. For this reason, knowing and understanding our natural environment is very important to us, this is the main role of Earth sciences and their interactions.