Earth: Facts about the Blue Planet
Earth is our home planet, the only place in the universe where we know for sure that life exists. Earth formed more than 4.6 billion years ago from a swirling cloud of gas and dust that created the entire solar system, including our star, the sun. Scientists theorize that this gas and dust has collapsed into a disk, with different parts of the disk coalescing to form individual planets in the solar system.
Where is the earth located?
Our planet is located in a small corner of Galaxy galaxy, 25,000 light-years from the galactic center, according to NASA. The solar system rests on a sub-branch known as the Orion Spur, which splits off from the Sagittarius arm, one of the galaxy’s two main spiral arms.
Earth’s circumference is 24,901 miles (40,075 km), making it the largest rocky planet in the solar system, according to sister site Live Science Space.com. Orbit of our planet 93,000,000 miles (150,000 km) away from the sun, creating a suitable temperature for liquid water that is difficult to decompose on the surface; it is the only known object orbiting this region known as Goldilocks.
What is the earth made of?
According to Caltech’s Center for Infrared Processing and Analysis, the Earth is made up of many elements, mainly oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, aluminum, and nickel. Our planet’s crust is a thin outer layer, consisting mainly of silicates and basalt, extending an average of 18 miles (30 km) below the planet’s surface, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The mantle is the next layer to lie down, extending to about 1,800 miles (2,900 km) below the Earth’s surface. A common misconception is that all rocks in the mantle are melted into magma; In fact, most of it is in a highly viscous form, so dense that it takes millions of years for its motion to become apparent. At the center of the Earth lies a nickel-iron core on the outside, at a depth of 1,400 miles (2,250 km), but crushed by incredible pressure to a solid form at the lowest depths, according to the USGS.
Earth has some huge landforms. The largest continent, sometimes called Afro-Eurasia (though often divided into Africa, Europe, and Asia), has a total area of 32.8 million square miles (84.95 million square kilometers), according to Encyclopedia of world geography. North and South America together make up 16.43 million square miles (42.55 million square kilometers), according to the online encyclopedia. Online Countrywhile the frozen continent of Antarctic is 5.41 million square miles (14 million square kilometers). The area of Australia is 2.97 million square miles (7.66 million square kilometers). Australian Government.
Processes beneath the Earth’s crust cause these continents to move around over geological timescales. Geologists have discovered underground continent are buried deep below the surface, and although no one knows for sure how or when they formed, they may be as old as the Earth itself.
What is Earth’s atmosphere made of?
According to NASA, our planet’s atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 20% oxygen, 0.9% argon and 0.04% carbon dioxide, along with small amounts of other gases. Most human activity takes place in the lowest atmosphere, the troposphere, which extends 5 to 9 miles (8 to 14.5 km) above our heads, NASA says. Above that is the stratosphere, where clouds and weather balloons rise, up to 31 miles (50 km) high. This is followed by the mesosphere, which extends up to 53 miles (85 km) at altitude (this is where meteorites burn up), and the atmosphere, which reaches far into space, at least 373 miles (600 km) high.
Human activity has a huge influence on the climate and weather in the Earth’s atmosphere. By replenishing excess carbon dioxide, which traps infrared radiation from the sun, human industry is heating our planet through global warming. In 2021, the United Nations announced that parts of the Arctic has hit a new temperature record in June 2020: 100 F (38 C) in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk.
What are some features of the Earth?
The Earth is tilted 23.4 degrees on its axis, which means that sunlight falls unevenly on the planet’s surface throughout the year, creating Seasonal variation on most of the planet. But the regions are subject to different differences in sunlight, so the Earth’s surface is generally divided into three main climates: the polar regions of the North Pole and the South Pole, which begin above or below 66 degrees of North latitude. or Male; moderate temperate zones, between 23 and 66 degrees north or south latitude; and tropical regions, between the Tropic of Cancer, at 23 degrees north latitude, and the Tropic of Cancer, at 23 degrees south latitude, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The highest point above sea level is Mount Everest, at 29,032 feet (8,849 meters), according to Britannica). A crescent-shaped trench at the bottom of the Western Pacific Ocean is called Mariana Trench is the deepest point on our planet, extending down to 36,037 feet (10,984 m).
The Nile is the longest river in the world, winding 4,132 miles (6,650 km) through northeastern Africa. Lake Baikal in Russia is the largest and deepest freshwater lake, containing 5,521 cubic miles of water (23,013 cubic kilometers) – a volume approximately equal to the five Great Lakes of North America combined.
What makes Earth so special?
Earth is unique because it is the only place in the universe known to have life. Some of the oldest evidence for microbial life suggests that it was widespread on our planet 3.95 billion years ago, Live Science previously reported. Exactly how these microscopic organisms arise remains a mystery, although experts have suggested many theories.
Scientists estimate that there are about 1 trillion species on our planet, living in cavities extending from the upper atmosphere to deep beneath the rocky surface. Live Science has previously reported on the strange and complex biosphere particles that exist around hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor and in just about every rock and fissure ever discovered. Whether this means organisms exist elsewhere in the solar system or beyond is an open question, but the diversity of life on Earth has led scientists to hope that life may not exist. can survive in extreme environments across the universe.
Additional Resources
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Bishop, BC (2021, May 13). Mount Everest. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Mount-Everest
Caltech Infrared Processing and Analysis Center. (nd). What is the earth made of? Awesome Cosmos. Accessed March 25, 2022 from https://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/ask/58-What-is-Earth-made-of-
Geoscience Australia. (nd). Australia region – states and territories. Australian Government. Accessed March 25, 2022 from https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/dimensions/area-of-australia-states-and-territories
McColl, RW (Ed.). (2005). Encyclopedia of world geography. Profile Facts. https://books.google.com/books?id=DJgnebGbAB8C&pg=PA215&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
NASA. (In 1976). United States Standard Atmosphere, 1976. NASA Technical Reporting Server. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/ceces/19770009539
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. (2015, December). Galaxy. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/milkyway1.html
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (nd). Teacher Basics: Earth’s Climate [PDF]. https://gml.noaa.gov/infodata/lesson_plans/Teacher%20Background%20Information-%20Earth’s%20Climate.pdf
Country online. (nd). Americas countries. Accessed March 25, 2022 from https://www.nationonline.org/oneworld/america.htm
Robertson, EC (2011, January 14). Inside the Earth. United States Geological Survey.https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/interior/
Sharp, T. (2021, July 6). How big is the earth? Space.com. https://www.space.com/17638-how-big-is-earth.html
Sharp, T., & Urrutia, DE (2022, January 21). How far is the earth from the sun? Space.com. https://www.space.com/17081-how-far-is-earth-from-the-sun.html
Zell, H. (2017, August 7). Layers of the Earth’s Atmosphere. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/science/atmosphere-layers2.html
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