I remember when I was taking thermodynamics in college I always had trouble doing entropy problem. I eventually got to the "aha moment" when I finally understood that it only applies to CLOSED systems. The earth is not a closed system - there is a net amount of energy falling on it (from the sun) and that is what allows it to become more "orderly".
Thanks for the great link, aquila48! WRT the above italics: the reference is to the solar system. But what of the Universe as a whole? Where does it get its "order" (energy) from? Should we think of it as a "closed" or as an "open" system?
Thoughts, people???