ABSTRACT
The list of energy interactions on Earth is long, they are overwhelmingly complex, and scientists are constantly finding new phenomena and revising their previous findings and conclusions. This chapter reviews the impact of the technologies and processes related to power generation on the Earth’s overall energy balance, and our troubled natural environment. Hundreds of satellites circle the Earth, to observe the activities below for different purposes, such as environmental or weather monitoring, meteorological observations, map making etc. A set of satellites are designed to assist with the environmental monitoring of the numerous events on Earth. These are set to detect changes in the Earth’s vegetation, the atmospheric trace gas content, the overall state of the oceans, the ice cover, and many other variables. Life on Earth depends on the atmosphere, so we need to understand it and its changes, including its origins, to understand the rest and be able to control our destiny.
