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AndrewPD writes:
So it is statistically unlikely that all the molecules in a gas will go into one corner of a jar because there are to many other possible arrangements. So entropy reflects the unlikelihood of certain formations or order when there is a huge range of other probabilistically available outcomes.
Taq writes:
Take a look at high and low pressure systems in Earth's atmosphere. Those are driven by the Sun.
So no, the gas molecules won't go to the corner of a jar without some outside influence because they 'want' to find equilibrium and stay there at maximum entropy until otherwise disturbed.
The earth is bombarded with energy from the sun which alters the air and ocean temperatures which in turn creates high and low pressure systems. These systems manifest as the weather we observe. It is never able to find a stable, high entropy state due to the energy input from the sun. Climate change is a result of the earth retaining more of the energy it receives from the sun, it follows and is expected that such should produce more extreme weather events. Is this a fair summary of the situation? It leads me to a somewhat related question.
Solar converts the suns rays directly to electricity and therefore not only cuts down on carbon emissions but also somewhat reduces the amount of the suns energy which manifests itself as heat on earth. Since the energy of the wind is ultimately sun powered, in addition to reducing emissions, don't wind turbines reduce the impact of excess energy manifested as weather patterns by removing energy from the wind?
It seems obviously true so the question is, to what extent could it scale? I've not bothered to look into climate change because I'm pro-sustainablility and renewables regardless. Does the climate modelling give numbers in joules of excess energy retained? Could this be compared to global energy usage if we assume we managed 100% wind and solar to see what sort of impact it could have?
In 2014 wiki gives 150,000 TWh generated, anyone got a source for the warming energy and care to do the conversion and comparison?