All About Earth

All About Earth

By Madison Nef

Earth is an extremely important planet for multiple reasons- the first and foremost being that it is the only known planet in the entire universe that supports life. From space, it is gorgeous- being comprised of 71% salt water and 30% land and air, it is seen as brown, white a blue. The blue is the water that covers most of the planet, while the brown and green makes up the land masses and the white is the cloud cover.

Earth, much like Mercury and Venus, features many different types of landforms such as mountains, ridges, plains, volcanoes, and more. The only difference between the three is that Earth is the only one that life can survive on… in all of those terrains. As of today, scientists have identified roughly 3 million different life forms currently alive on Earth, and they believe there are many, many more yet to be found.

Also unlike Mercury and Venus, Earth has many water sources- water being needed for everything to survive. The total amount of water on Earth (to a depth of 2,000 meters) is known as the Earth’s hydrosphere. The Earth in total is made up of roughly 71% water, the remaining 29% being land and air. Another difference is the time it takes Earth to orbit the sun- a grand total of 365 days, which is more than the length it takes both planets combined. The Earth orbits the sun at an average distance of about 93,000,000 miles.

Earth’s gravity is also relatively different from these two other planets, and can be measured using the following mathematical formula:

 Gravity on earth = 9.80665 m / s2

Essentially, this formula describes how the acceleration of an object falling freely near the Earth’s surface increases by about 9.8 meters per second every second.

Now, about the atmosphere of Earth- it is almost the same as Venus, besides temperature. The atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and trace amounts of water vapor, carbon dioxide and other similar gaseous molecules.

The oxygen that is present on Earth is quite unique from other planets- this due to the fact that Earth’s oxygen is mainly generated by plants. Scientists have figured out that Earth’s biosphere began to alter itself roughly 2.7 billion years ago, with the evolution of photosynthesis.

The production of oxygen enabled the succession of organisms that could succeed in oxygenated settings and also enabled the formation of the ozone layer to protect the planet from most of the sun’s harmful ultra-violet rays. This, combined with the greenhouse effect, the planet’s tendency to capture and re-radiate energy from the ground, served to moderate temperature in most parts of the planet, enabling life to evolve.

Temperatures on Earth vary widely depending on location. The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was -128.6 F in Antarctica. The hottest temperature ever recorded was 136 degrees F at Al’ Aziziyah, Libya. The overall average temperature of Earth is somewhere in the vicinity of a relatively comfortable 59 degrees F.

The Earth has only one moon that controls the ocean tides through magnetic attraction. On average, the moon is about 238,885 miles from Earth. Fun fact: Most people drive three times that many miles in their lifetime.

 Interesting Facts:

·        Human beings are thought to be responsible for the Earth’s increasing surface temperatures, a phenomenon known as global warming.

·        For much of history, the human population believed Earth was flat and the center of the universe.

Well, there you have it. I hope that you enjoyed learning about our own planet… I know I learned something. I never would have guessed that some people drive the amount of miles it takes to get to the moon THREE TIMES in their life… that’s crazy!

I hope you got an interesting tid-bit from this as well.

Maddie