could you take the heat from the atmosphere and use it for something else

Question: could you take the heat from the atmosphere and use it for something else
- Keywords:
  atmosphere,
  global warming
Asked by vplover to Arttu, Ceri, James_M, Monica, Philip on 16 Jun 2011.
- James M Monk answered on 16 Jun 2011:
  
  yes. There exists a type of heater that can heat a building by doing that – it is called a heat pump. It is a bit like taking a fridge and putting the cold bit of the fridge outside the building and the hot bit at the back of the fridge inside the building.

Question: could you take the heat from the atmosphere and use it for something else