What's wrong with the heat death theory?

1842, the law of conservation and transformation of energy was established. People realize that heat is not a fluid, and there is no such thing as "thermal mass" or "thermal element". Heat is a macroscopic manifestation of the irregular movement of a large number of particles that make up an object. Heat is only a form of energy, and heat and work can be transformed into each other.

This raises a question to people, whether there is a contradiction between the law of conservation and transformation of energy and Carnot's theorem: the law of conservation and transformation of energy points out that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but can only be transformed from one form to another. In other words, work can be transformed into heat and heat can also be transformed into success, which does not violate the law of conservation of energy. Carnot's theorem shows that heat can't be completely converted into work, and it can't be completely automatically converted when it flows from a high-temperature heat source to a low-temperature heat source. In this way, although it is impossible to violate the laws of conservation and transformation of energy in nature, the process of satisfying the laws of conservation and transformation of energy may not always be realized.

After investigating a large number of energy conversion phenomena, Clausius divides energy conversion into two categories: one is the conversion that can occur by itself without external intervention and any compensation, such as friction heat generation, gas vacuum expansion, and heat transfer from high-temperature heat source to low-temperature heat source. Clausius called this change a positive change; The other is the transformation that can only be realized under the condition of external intervention or compensation. These processes can't happen automatically, such as successful thermal transformation, gas compression and heat transfer from low temperature to high temperature. Clausius called it negative transformation. In order for a negative change to occur, it must be accompanied by a positive change.

Clausius also found that negative transformation is the reverse process of positive transformation, and positive transformation can be carried out spontaneously, while negative transformation cannot be carried out spontaneously, that is, positive transformation is an irreversible change.

Clausius spent 15 years studying the number of positive and negative transitions and measuring irreversibility. /kloc-In the mid-9th century, due to the introduction of "mechanical equivalence of heat", the first law of thermodynamics (the law of conservation of energy including thermal phenomena) has a mathematical analytical expression. This gives Clausius a beneficial enlightenment: we should find a "transformation content" or "transformation tolerance", compare different forms of transformation with each other, and thus quantize the second law of thermodynamics.

Clausius started with the theory of thermal transition and put forward that entropy is used to calculate the "equivalent value" of transition. The changing law of entropy represents the identity of irreversible process. 1857 published a paper on the types of thermal sports. With very clear and convincing reasoning, he established an ideal gas molecular model and a formula for determining pressure, and introduced the concept of average free path. Thomson's paper "On the General Trend of Mechanical Energy Loss in Nature" published in 1852 draws the conclusion that the dominant trend in nature is that energy is converted into heat, which makes the temperature tend to be balanced, and finally leads to the reduction of work capacity of all objects to zero, reaching a state of "thermal silence".

In 1865, Clausius wrote: "If among all the state changes of the universe, the change in one direction always exceeds the change in the opposite direction in quantity, then all the states of the universe will inevitably change in the first direction more and more, so the universe will inevitably gradually tend to a final state." At the end of this paper, he used the concepts of energy and entropy to concisely express two basic principles of thermodynamic theory: "the energy of the universe is constant" and "the entropy of the universe tends to a maximum". 1867, in his speech on the second principle of thermodynamic theory, he further put forward: "We should draw the conclusion that in all natural phenomena, the total value of entropy can only increase, but not decrease forever. Therefore, for the process of change at any time and any place, we get the following simple law: the entropy of the universe tries to reach a certain maximum. " He continued: "The closer the universe is to the limit state of its maximum entropy, the less likely it is to continue to change; When it finally reaches this state completely, there will be no further changes, so the universe will always be in an inert dead state. "In Clausius's view, the universe is now in an unbalanced state, and any unbalanced state will always reach a balanced state in a limited time.

With the infinite increase of entropy, all other forms of motion (mechanical, optical, electromagnetic, chemical, and life) will eventually be transformed into thermal motion, and the heat will be continuously emitted from high temperature to low temperature, and finally the temperature will be balanced everywhere, so the universe will enter a "thermal silence" state where all motion processes are terminated.

Is Clausius' assertion correct? It has caused great controversy in the scientific community. Green, Rankin, Tate, Preston and others have all given some examples that contradict Clausius' principle. However, Clausius and others proved that these objections were wrong, and further asserted that it was impossible to find a process that contradicted the second law. Nevertheless, some physicists still believe that it is not credible to extend the principle based on experiments on the earth to the whole universe in a very short time compared with the development of the universe. They also pointed out that the absolute applicability of the second law means that the first law is essentially eliminated, because energy that cannot be transformed is not energy.

Another point of view is that the second law of thermodynamics itself contains the idea that sports should be gradually eliminated, because admitting the irreversibility of natural processes will inevitably deny the transformation of processes in the opposite direction, and thus draw the conclusion that sports games should be eliminated. Therefore, to criticize "theory of heat death of the Universe", we must first deny the second law of thermodynamics and the irreversibility of natural processes. This view is incorrect because it lacks sufficient scientific basis. "Cosmic theory of heat death" is not an inevitable conclusion of the second law of thermodynamics, but an anti-scientific inference of the second law of thermodynamics. In fact, the second law of thermodynamics, like many other laws of natural science that have been discovered, has its specific conditions, so it is limited and only applies to certain fields.

The further development of thermodynamics shows that the principle of entropy increase can also be extended to the case that the initial state and the final state are not completely balanced, but it must not be far from equilibrium. The universe is an infinite system far from equilibrium.

In addition, the isolated system must satisfy the adiabatic condition, so it can also be said that the entropy in the isolated system cannot be reduced. However, the isolation system is a system completely divorced from the external environment. Everything in the world is interrelated and there is no absolute isolation system at all. The isolated system of thermodynamics is only an abstract hypothesis, which can only be approximately reflected in a very small space and in a very short time. At this time, the external influence on the system still exists, but it is too small to be ignored or the total influence is approximately eliminated. For example, in a short time, the system in the thermos can be regarded as an isolated system, but it is not a real isolated system. Obviously, as an abstract concept, this isolated system is fundamentally different from the whole universe, and the conclusion applicable to local phenomena cannot be applied to the whole universe.

Therefore, the entropy increasing process revealed by the second law of thermodynamics is only a local expression of infinitely diverse motion processes, and it is only a special law of macroscopic material motion related to thermal motion under certain conditions and in a limited range; It is neither applicable to the microscopic world nor extrapolated to the universe. "Cosmic theory of heat death" regards the second law of thermodynamics as the universal law of the universe, which leads to fallacy.

According to the basic principle of dialectical materialism, the process leading to the escape of matter and energy in the universe is inextricably linked with the process leading to the concentration of matter and energy. Under some conditions, entropy will increase and energy will diverge, while under other conditions, entropy will decrease and energy will gather.

In recent decades, people have learned through astronomical observation that all kinds of celestial bodies are in the constant transformation of aggregation and dispersion, collapse and explosion, generation and death. Old stars are getting colder and colder, young stars are getting hotter and hotter, and there is no trend of thermal balance in space. These facts show that in the universe, heat is not simply radiated from a high-temperature object to a low-temperature object, which makes the universe system enter a thermal silence state, but the transformation process of continuous heat dissipation and heat recombination is taking place everywhere.

In recent years, the theory of "black hole" developed in astrophysics holds that those stars whose mass is roughly equivalent to three suns will automatically shrink due to strong gravity in their later years, and the result of this infinite gravitational collapse is a "black hole". Its powerful gravity will devour all falling matter and radiation, even if there is a huge speed of light, it can only enter but not exit. So it forms a closed horizon, and no light or material information is emitted from its surface. Outside observers can't get any information about the horizon, so it is black, and that's how the name "black hole" comes from. According to this theory, massive celestial bodies will inevitably become black holes in the later evolution. In recent years, neutrinos have also found mass, which greatly increases the average material density of this part of the universe, so its gravitational effect is far greater than people's initial estimation. Therefore, although the cosmic system with the current observation range of about 65.438+0.5 billion light years is expanding, it will eventually be transformed into contraction under the action of its internal gravity. Once this contraction begins, it will inevitably continue to collapse indefinitely. In this sense, we are also in a black hole.

Of course, this is just a rough guess. With the progress of natural science, the problem of how to recombine and move the heat radiated into space will be solved. At that time, the whole scientific theory, including thermodynamics, will also make great progress.

Thermal phenomena in life

Thermal phenomenon is a common phenomenon in nature and life, which is closely related to people's lives. Why do seasonal winds blow from rural areas to big cities in winter and spring? Why is the temperature on the earth rising gradually in recent years? Why do you feel warm when you wear cotton-padded jacket or down jacket in winter? Why do Inuit live in rooms made of ice and snow to keep warm? ...

People who don't understand the basic principles of heat will find these phenomena mysterious. In fact, all these phenomena can be explained by very simple thermodynamic principles. It is very interesting and beneficial to analyze these thermal phenomena around us with the basic principles of heat. It can not only arouse everyone's interest in learning thermal knowledge, but also improve our consciousness of analyzing natural phenomena from a scientific point of view.

Negative effects of El Nino

The word "El Nino" comes from Spanish, which means "El Nino". /kloc-At the beginning of the 9th century, in Spanish-speaking countries such as Ecuador and Peru in South America, fishermen found that every few years, that is, from June of 10 to March of the following year, a warm current moved southward along the coast, which significantly increased the surface seawater temperature. The Peruvian cold current originally prevailed on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean in South America. Fish that move with the cold current make Peru's fishing ground one of the four largest fishing grounds in the world. However, as soon as this warm current appears, a large number of fish who like cold water will die, leading to the extinction of fishermen. Because this phenomenon is often the most serious around Christmas, fishermen who suffer from natural disasters and are helpless are called the son of God-El Nino. Later, in science, the term was used to indicate that the sea surface temperature in the eastern Pacific near Peru and Ecuador was unusually warm by several Qian Qian meters. When this happens, the seawater temperature can be 3℃ ~ 6℃ higher than normal in a large range. The rising water temperature in the vast waters of the Pacific Ocean has changed the traditional equatorial currents and southeast trade winds, resulting in global climate anomalies.

El Nino is a thermodynamic phenomenon in life, also known as El Nino flow, which is a climatic phenomenon caused by the eastward shift of Walker circulation circle, resulting in a large area of ocean and atmosphere imbalance in the equatorial belt of the Pacific Ocean. Under normal circumstances, the monsoon air flow in the tropical Pacific moves from America to Asia, keeping the surface of the Pacific Ocean warm and bringing tropical rainfall around Indonesia. However, this pattern is disrupted every 2 ~ 7 years, and the wind direction and ocean current are reversed. The heat flow in the surface layer of the Pacific Ocean turns eastward to America, and then takes away tropical rainfall, resulting in the so-called "El Ni? o phenomenon".

The basic feature of El Nino phenomenon is that the sea surface temperature along the Pacific coast rises abnormally, the sea water level rises, and a warm current flows southward. It turns cold water in the East Pacific into warm water, causing tsunamis and storms, causing drought in some areas and excessive rainfall in others. When El Nino occurs, the abnormal rise of sea surface temperature leads to the increase of atmospheric temperature over the ocean, which destroys the dynamic balance of the normal distribution of heat and water vapor in the atmospheric circulation. This kind of sea-air change is often accompanied by disastrous weather around the world: it is hot and cold, and sunny places are flooded, while rainy places are scorching sun and scorched earth everywhere. Generally speaking, when El Nino occurs, the rainfall in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific will increase greatly, causing floods, while the western Pacific such as Australia and Indonesia is dry and rainy.

The whole process of El Nino is divided into occurrence period, development period, maintenance period and attenuation period, which generally lasts for about one year, and the change of atmosphere lags behind the change of seawater temperature.

Today, with the highly developed meteorological science, people have understood that the central Pacific Ocean is the main power source of summer climate change in the northern hemisphere. Usually, there is a northward Peruvian cold current along the Pacific Ocean on the west side of the South American continent, and some of them turn to the equator and move westward. At this time, the monsoon blowing westward along the sea near the equator makes the warm current accumulate to the west side of the Pacific Ocean, while the low-level cold water rises to the east side, which gradually increases the sea surface temperature in the western Pacific Ocean south of the Philippines and north of New Guinea. This part of the sea area is called "equatorial warm pool", and the seawater temperature in the east of the same latitude is relatively low. There is also a temperature difference in the atmosphere over the two sea areas. The temperature in the east is low and the air pressure is high, and the cold air sinks and flows westward. The temperature in the west is high and the air pressure is low. After the hot air rises, it turns to the east. In this way, an atmospheric circulation (Walker circulation) is formed in the central Pacific Ocean, where the cold air at sea level flows westward and the hot air at high altitude flows eastward. This circulation forms a southeast wind near the sea level. But sometimes, this pressure difference will be lower than the multi-year average, and sometimes it will increase. This phenomenon of atmospheric change is called "Southern Oscillation". In 1960s, meteorologists found that El Nino was closely related to the Southern Oscillation. When the pressure difference decreased, El Nino appeared.

After the 1960s, with the progress of observation methods and the development of science, it was found that El Ni? o phenomenon not only appeared in the coastal areas of South America and other countries, but also spread all the sea areas along the equator of the eastern Pacific Ocean and countries around the Pacific Ocean. In some years, even the Indian Ocean coast will be affected by the climate anomaly caused by El Ni? o, and a series of natural disasters will occur. Generally speaking, it makes the climate in the southern hemisphere hotter and drier, and the climate in the northern hemisphere colder and wetter.

Due to the development of science and technology and the attention of countries all over the world, scientists have deepened their understanding of this climate anomaly by adopting a series of scientific research activities such as forecasting model, ocean observation and satellite reconnaissance, and air-sea coupling. Firstly, it is recognized that the physical process of El Ni? o phenomenon is the result of the interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere, that is, the change of ocean temperature is related to the atmosphere. Therefore, after 1980s, scientists called El Nino "Anceaux" phenomenon. Secondly, tropical ocean warming occurs not only in the Chilean waters of South America, but also in the eastern and western Pacific. No matter where it happens, it will quickly lead to obvious global climate anomalies. This is the strongest signal of climate change, which will lead to serious natural disasters, such as droughts and floods in many parts of the world.

According to statistics, every strong El Ni? o phenomenon will lead to global climate anomalies and bring huge economic losses. The rainstorm and flood in the Yangtze River valley in the summer of 1998 in China are closely related to the El Nino phenomenon in 1997 ~ 1998, and the meteorological department provides good forecasting services mainly based on this factor.

In addition, usually in the year of El Nino phenomenon, the summer monsoon in China will be weak, the monsoon rain belt will be south, and the summer days in the northern region are often prone to drought and high temperature; El Nino may increase the probability of warm winter; The probability of low temperature in northeast summer increases; The number of typhoons in the northwest Pacific and the number of coastal landings in China are less than normal. Visible, China's climate is also within the scope of the El Ni? o phenomenon.

China has a vast territory, spanning tropical, subtropical, temperate and frigid zones, and is located on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean. El Ni? o phenomenon inevitably affects the climate of China. The analysis shows that the shrimp production in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea in China is closely related to the El Ni? o phenomenon. Whenever El Nino occurs, the output of prawns drops significantly, with an average drop of 30%. When the strong El Nino phenomenon occurs, the output drops more significantly, with an average drop of 70%. In the strongest year of El Nino (1982), the shrimp yield was only 1/7 of that in the high-yield years (1956 and 1979).

Scientists believe that the occurrence of El Nino phenomenon is related to the deterioration of human natural environment, the direct result of the intensification of global greenhouse effect, and the result of human beings demanding too much from nature and not paying attention to environmental protection.

According to the research on the relationship between the change law of solar activity and El Ni? o in the past hundred years, scientists found that the period from sunspot reduction to valley value is the frequent period of El Ni? o, with 2 ~ 3 El Ni? o occurrences.

Decades later, people have a new understanding of El Ni? o phenomenon, especially its impact on ecology, environment, climate and even the world economy. Scientists are convinced that El Nino, especially strong El Nino, will bring great disaster to the world economy. According to the assessment materials provided by The New York Times and LA Times, Peru is one of the countries most affected by the 1982 ~ 1983 warm event. Before the incident, the fish meal supplied by Peru accounted for 38% of the world's total, and the catch in Peru dropped sharply from 654.38+0982 to 654.38+0983 to 654.38+080 million tons. As a substitute for fishmeal in the United States, the price of soybeans has tripled, and the rise in feed prices has in turn led to a surge in the retail price of chickens; The severe drought in the Philippines has led to a sharp rise in the price of coconut, which has also greatly increased the cost of making soap and detergent ...1August 1997, a report of the World Meteorological Organization pointed out that the El Ni? o in 1982 ~ 1983 caused a global direct economic loss of13 billion US dollars, and the indirect and potential impact was difficult to estimate.

As for the cause of El Nino, it is a mystery of contemporary science. Most scientists believe that there are two major aspects: first, natural factors, equatorial trade winds, earth rotation, geothermal movement and so on. May be related to it; Second, human factors, that is, human activities aggravate climate warming, are also one of the possible reasons for the sharp increase in equatorial warming events.

It may depend on man's attitude towards nature that he finally walks out of the "El Nino" cycle completely. 1from February 3 to 5, 1998, 100 meteorologists from all over the world gathered in Bangkok to discuss the best strategy to deal with El Nino. Scientists believe that mankind has made great progress in predicting El Ni? o phenomenon. Many disasters caused by El Nino have been predicted accurately and timely, so that human beings can plan ahead. Scientists have issued such an appeal: to save nature, that is, to save mankind itself.