Question 2: What have you learned about the surface of the Earth and its atmosph

Question

Question 2:

What have you learned about the surface of the Earth and its atmosphere and magnetic field that is new for you or help you understand something you didn't know before? Do you think eventually Los Angeles will split off from the rest of United States and be close to San Francisco, does this prospect scare you? Does Fracking help prevent a major earthquake by causing a bunch of smaller ones? Do you understand how Plate Tectonics helps explain how mountains, valleys, trenches and rift valleys are created and why some people say that planets without plate tectonics are not habitable? How about the magnetic field of Earth, how often does it switch and is it dangerous when it switches? Have you ever seen an aurora and if no, would you one day like to see one? What do you still have questions about or would like to know more about it?   What does our atmosphere do besides helping us breathe in terms of climate regulation?

IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE HUGE ANSWER

Explanation / Answer

Los Angeles and San Fransisco would likely be adjacent to each other in future. The San Andreas Fault system would eventually bring the two cities closer due to its movement which is occurring at the rate of one to two inches per year.

Fracking would not help prevent a major earthquake, as the possibly hazardous fault ruptures that would be lubricated may not be the ones that would cause earthquakes. The ruptures associated with fault systems are complicated and it's not that easy to identify and correctly predict the source of an earthquake.

Plate tectonics is the key to understanding the origin and distribution of various topographic features on Earth and maintains the necessary life-sustaining cycles on geological timescales. Without the processes involved in plate tectonics, life would be hard to sustain and the supply of water, gases, nutrients to ecosystems may not be sufficient.

Magnetic reversals, i.e. switching of magnetic poles, occur irregularly on timescales in the order of 100,000 years, sometimes even less. The consequences will be significant as the global climate will start shifting to a new direction that may not support human life.

The Earth's atmosphere controls the weather on a daily basis through the lowermost layer, i.e. the troposphere, and the layer above it, i.e. the stratosphere, blocks the harmful UV rays from Sun, thus supporting the life on Earth.  

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