Introduction: Today’s Our System
摘要
On the Earth, there is an inflow and outflow of energy, such as the intake of sunlight (ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light) and the emission of thermal radiation into space. On the other hand, very little matter enters or leaves the Earth. Although it is not a perfect isolated system because of the energy flow in and out, the Earth can be regarded as an isolated system as a rough approximation. Thermodynamics tells us that, in the equilibrium state of an isolated system, a homogeneous state with no structure that maximizes entropy is realized.