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Asked by anon-347841 to Jack, Harriet, George, Deborah on 20 Feb 2023.
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George Foden answered on 20 Feb 2023:
All of the energy on Earth is a result of the Sun, which creates the conditions for all of life on Earth. Without the Sun, there would be no people, or animals or even plants. So the energy from the Sun, it’s heat and light, is the reason we’re here at all.
If we had not taken the energy from fossil fuels in the Earth the whole world would be very different. The industrial revolution, which gave us our modern world with factories and goods that we can buy and sell, was powered by coal and other non-renewable energy sources in the ground, like oil and natural gas. If they were never discovered, we would not have our modern world. But now they are running out, and causing harm by speeding up climate change, and so we need to learn to use other types of energy that are renewable, like solar power, which again comes from the Sun, to keep our energy supplies up and make sure we can live the way we do now.
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Jack Whittle answered on 21 Feb 2023:
As George has mentioned, almost all energy as we know it is a result of the sun. The only other thing I can think to add is to mention the tides, which are influenced by the sun, but also our moon. The tides influence lots of things in our oceans, and without them the ocean would be vastly different. Tidal currents wouldn’t occur, ocan mixing would be reduced, and lots of coastal areas would not receive the nutrients that tidal mixing brings, causing coastal ecosystems to be vastly reduced in their complexity and diversity. Also, many marine organisms link their spawning to the tides. Corals are one of them. They tend to spawn on high spring tides, as this gives their eggs a much better chance of dispersal. In addition to George’s point on renewables, tidal energy is becoming a more attractive and viable source of green energy. Without the tides, this potential alternative energy source disappears.
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Harriet Lord answered on 21 Feb 2023:
Great points from George and Jack, I would add that as well as solar and tidal energy, geothermal energy is also an energy source produced by heat in the Earth’s core. It can be harnessed to produce electricity and it’s renewable and therefore sustainable. If there was no energy on Earth, there would be no life!
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