Is the earth's core heating up? If it continues to heat up how will it effect life on the surface?
1 Answer
The earth's core is not heating up, but it is cooling down at a very slow rate as the earth plummets through the depths of frigid space.
Explanation:
The cooling of the earth's core will not likely affect life on the planet as we know it as heat loss in the core will probably not end the human race.
Heat in the center of the earth approximates that of the surface of the sun ans is a result of the tremendous pressure on the iron core, estimated at three and a half million times that of the atmosphere. There is also continuous decay of radioactive material occurring inside the earth and the blanket effect of the mantle insulating the core.
But heat is still being transferred by conduction and convection currents from the core through the mantle to produce more convection currents in the mantle that continuously change the look of earth on the surface.
There is a drawing of the inner workings of the earth here:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/05/29/science/the-movement-and-structure-of-the-deep-earth.html
