Interesting Facts About Earth

Interesting Facts About Earth

 

Earth is the place that each person calls home. It is home to over six billion people and around 8.7 million different species. While everyone lives on Earth, there are many interesting facts that people do not know about the planet. Earth is unique in our solar system as being the only known planet to support the multitudes of different life. Earth facts can reveal the true nature of the place life calls home.

The Earth is not a Perfect Circle

It was long thought that Earth was spherical in shape. After careful studies and measurements by scientists, it is now known that earth is more of an oval. If you look at the diameter from pole to pole, Earth is 7882.4 miles long. If you measure the diameter from the equator line, earth measures 7908.9 miles long. The reason for the difference is how the Earth spins. It spins on its axes, which goes through the poles, making some of its mass move away from the poles and to its outside center.

There are Few Craters on Earth

When Earth is compared to the Moon, it has less impact craters caused by space debris. The Moon is documented to have billions of craters, as can be seen by looking at it. The reason behind so few craters on the Earth is that Earth possesses an atmosphere, which creates fiction for anything coming into it. The friction caused by an object moving at hundreds of thousands of miles per second entering the Earth?s atmosphere causes the object to burn up before hitting the ground. The Moon has no atmosphere and cannot stop even the smallest meteor hitting its surface, which is why there are so many craters on the Moon.

The Earth's Atmosphere

The atmosphere around the Earth keeps the animals and creatures living upon its surface a great deal as far as the requirements of life goes. It weighs around five trillions tons altogether, which is calculated based on the atmospheric pressure it exudes on the surface. The pressure is around one kilogram per square centimeter. The atmosphere protects its inhabitants from harmful space objects like meteors by burning them up before impact as well as harmful light rays such as X-rays, ultraviolet light, infrared and gamma rays.

Gravity is not the Same Everywhere

v There is an area in Canada called Hudson Bay that has a lower gravitational force than other regions of the earth. Scientists believe that 25 to 45 percent of the gravitational flux is due to a giant glacier sheet that was in the area long ago causing the Earth's crust to subside somewhat. The rest of the reason behind the gravitational flux can be explained by down drag due to the magma in the Earth's mantle.

The place that all known living creatures live is a fascinating place. The Earth facts discussed in this article can give an idea of the type of place life call home. The most important thing that people of planet Earth can do is to look after Earth so that all future generations can experience the wonders that Earth holds.