Earth is our home, which is also a fascinating place. We go about living our lives day by day, with the lovely sunrises and sunsets brought forth by the planet’s rotation. We have lived here our entire existence, and in some cases, we know more about other worlds than we do about some regions of our own.
A lot of incredible things are taking place right now on our planet.
Did you realize that there is gold worth more than $700 trillion in our oceans? Or that Mount Everest isn’t the tallest mountain in the world? Did you know that our planet is rotating around the sun at a breakneck speed of 67,000 mph? Or that it might have been purple once upon a time?
12 Facts About the Planet Earth
The following list of 12 Earth-related facts may help you better understand the 197-million-square-mile globe in which we live.
01. The Earth is neither a sphere nor circular.
The Earth is not flat, as we have all been taught, but you might be surprised to find that it is also not spherically perfect.
But what does this mean? Simply put, the equator of the Earth is wider than the poles. It resembles a flattened sphere. This shape is the result of the Earth’s rotation about its axis. The planet appears spherical to the human eye because this variation is too small to be visible in images of Earth taken from space. According to recent research, the Earth’s waistline is expanding as a result of melting glaciers.
02. Earth is always moving.
Even if it seems like you’re standing still, you’re moving all the time quickly. Wherever you are on the planet, you can be rotating at a speed of just over 1,000 miles per hour.
The equator is where people move the fastest, while the North or South poles are where people would be completely stationary. (Consider spinning a basketball on your finger. A point at random on the equator of the ball must travel further in a single rotation than a point close to your finger. The equator’s tip is moving quickly as a result.)
03. The Earth was formerly purple.
According to a scientist, the first life on Earth may have been as purple as it is green today. Retinal life would seem purple because retinal pigments absorb green and yellow light while transmitting red and blue light. Consequently, it’s probable that our planet once experienced a period known as “Purple Earth.” Before the Great Oxygenation Event, which was because of the development of chlorophyll-based photosynthesis, that period would have occurred between 2.4 and 3.5 billion years ago.
04. A day doesn’t have 24 hours.
Contrary to popular belief, there aren’t nearly 24 hours in a day on Earth. The Earth currently completes one full rotation of its axis every 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds. In terms of the ‘fixed’ stars, a stellar day is a time that the Earth takes to finish one cycle around its axis (a day defined in this manner ).
05. Gravity is not uniform everywhere.
Neither a perfect sphere nor a perfect gravity. The gravitational field of Earth has very rough terrain, just like the surface of the planet, which has a variety of terrain. This is due to several factors but is principal because of the separation between the Earth’s surface and its center.
As a result, the Earth’s gravity will somewhat decrease at the peak of a mountain because it is a little farther from the planet’s center. Mountain ranges, however, will typically have a higher gravitational field over a larger region because of the increased mass.
06. The lifespan of the Earth is 4.5 billion years.
The age of the Earth has currently estimated at 4.5 billion years, thanks to radiometric dating. Scientists examine rocks and sediment to estimate the age of the particular piece of sediment to determine the age of the Earth. They base their estimates of the age of the Earth on the oldest rock they have found, which is from Australia. It means a lot of birthdays!
07. At one time, Earth had two moons.
It’s possible that Earth previously had two moons that merged slowly over several hours. It’s possible that a tiny second moon, measuring only 750 miles (1,200 km) across, orbited Earth before crashing into the other one. According to experts in the latest issue of the magazine Nature, this titanic collision may be the reason why the two halves of the remaining lunar satellite are so dissimilar from one another.
08. The Earth is Electric.
The fiercer side of our planet is seen by thunder and lightning. The air can be heated by a single bolt of lightning to about 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit (30,000 degrees Celsius), which causes the air to expand rapidly. The air expands, producing a shock wave and ultimately a boom—more often known as thunder. Around 6,000 lightning strikes occur on Earth per minute.
09. A Supercontinent previously existed.
Earth didn’t have seven continents about 300 million years ago; instead, there was one enormous supercontinent called Pangaea, encircled by a single ocean known as Panthalassa.
In the 4.5 billion-year history of the planet, it is believed that the continents have repeatedly broken apart and then merged to form supercontinents. Around 200 million years ago, Pangaea started to fragment, and the landmasses that made up Pangaea eventually wandered into the continents that exist today.
10. The majority of the world’s freshwater is frozen.
Even though water covers 70% of the Earth’s surface, just around 2.5% of it is freshwater.
Even though that is a substantial amount of water, life on Earth cannot easily access even that. About 70% of that 2.5% is locked up in ice, and the remaining 7% is held in soil moisture and the atmosphere. Life is free to consume the remaining amount, which is essentially a rounding error on a larger scale.
As the saying goes, “Water and water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.”
11. The Earth’s Atmosphere Extends 10,000 kilometers.
The Earth’s atmosphere is thickest during the first 50 km or so from the surface, but it extends out into space for around 10,000 km. The troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere are its five principal layers. Air pressure and density often decrease when one rises higher into the sky and moves farther away from the surface.
Near the surface of the Earth, the majority of the atmosphere is located. The first 11 km above the planet’s surface contains 75% of the atmosphere. The greatest layer is the exosphere, which starts at the exobase at the top of the thermosphere at an altitude of roughly 700 km above sea level and extends to a distance of about 10,000 km (6,200 mi). The exosphere merges with the space in outer space, where there is no atmosphere.
12. A Magnetic Field is created by the Molten Iron Core of the Earth.
With poles at the top and bottom that are close to the real geographic poles, the Earth is like a giant magnet. The “magnetosphere” is an area formed by the magnetic field it generates that extends thousands of kilometers from the Earth’s surface. Scientists believe that the molten outer core of the Earth, where heat causes convection motions of conducting elements to produce electric currents, is the source of this magnetic field.
Enjoy the magnetosphere and be thankful. Without it, solar wind particles would directly impact the Earth, exposing the planet’s surface to high radiation levels. Instead of harming us, the magnetosphere guides the solar wind around the planet. Additionally, it has been theorized by scientists that Mars’ thin atmosphere results from its weaker magnetosphere than that of Earth, which allowed the solar wind to take it away.
Conclusion
Only the planet Earth can host life in our galaxy. Around 300,000 plant species, over 600,000 fungus species, and about 10 million animal species are thought to exist on Earth, according to scientists. We certainly are the life of the party, I suppose.
The oceans on Earth still cover about 95% of which are unexplored. According to scientists, these unknown waters could be home to around a million undiscovered species. Some areas of the Earth are also unexplored, such as some of the rainforests in New Guinea. It implies that there are still many things on Earth that have not been discovered.
In all, our world offers a wide range of unique perspectives. The Earth, on the one hand, can be pictured as this enormous expanse of land and water, which is the home of every living creature. On the other hand, compared to the stars and planets far beyond, it is simply a dot of dust. Something so enigmatic and full of discovery ought to be more deeply appreciated.