Terrestrial radiation is electromagnetic energy from the Earth and its atmosphere, including radioactive elements like radon, uranium, and thorium. It creates a background radiation that can fluctuate by location, but is not always harmful. Scientists use baseline levels to identify new sources and understand their impact on human, plant, and animal life. Earth’s radiation level has fluctuated throughout history, and not all radiation is harmful.
Terrestrial radiation is electromagnetic energy that originates in the Earth or its atmosphere. It creates an ever-present background radiation, although it can fluctuate based on location. This is not dangerous; some occur at wavelengths that pose no threat to human health, while in other cases the amount present is so low that it poses no threat to human health. Instruments that measure radiation can differentiate between different sources and can return values for Earth’s radiation that are separate from other sources for the benefit of researchers.
Numerous radioactive elements are present in rocks, air and water, including radon, uranium and thorium. They continually undergo radioactive decay and break down into smaller elements. All these processes produce terrestrial radiation. Furthermore, thermal radiation is a part of the energy emitted by the Earth. The sun warms rocks and soil, which release trapped heat during the evening hours, and various geological and molecular activities also produce heat.
Radiation researchers must establish a baseline of the ever-present background radiation to identify new sources and understand their impact. Earth radiation can be location and value dependent, as many locations on Earth are available to help scientists calculate baseline levels. With these levels in hand, scientists can see how activities such as nuclear power generation affect radiation levels to determine their impact on human, plant and animal life. This information may be important in shaping science policy and developing safeguards to prevent radiation harm.
Earth’s radiation level has not always been constant. Levels have fluctuated throughout Earth’s history in response to a variety of factors. When the Earth was new, it had more radioactive elements present, but these have broken down over time and no external sources have replaced them. Researchers can determine historical levels of Earth’s radiation with a variety of tools, including measuring existing levels and extrapolating the information provided about the behavior of radioactive elements.
Some confusion can surround the concept of background radiation. The public associates radiation with harmful elements, when in reality there are many different forms of radiation and not all pose a threat to human health. When someone turns on a thermostat to heat a room, for example, that person relies on heat radiation to raise the temperature. This radiation is not harmful, unless it reaches very high temperatures that the thermostat is usually designed to prevent.
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