There are certain facts about Earth that you might have known before. Everything on it keeps changing and we can not precisely predict what changes will occur after billions of years.
Composition of Earth
The composition of Earth is a unique fact about Earth has a combination of four elements iron, oxygen, silicon, and magnesium in order of specific concentration. At the core, there is iron whereas silicon and oxygen are at the top. 88% of the iron is at the Earth’s core.
The duration of a day
It is a common belief that a day on Earth is about 24 hours. But actually, it is about 23 hours and 56 minutes. The time when the Earth undergoes a rotation about its axis creates the circle of day and night. But interestingly, the speed of Earth’s rotation was slower in the past, meaning a day was much longer. It then makes a difference of about 4 to 5 minutes.
Period of year
A year is all about 365 days but actually, it is more than 365 days. To complete a rotation, it takes a quarter more days which becomes 365.254 days. To compensate for this period we have a leap year after every four years.
Life on Earth
Earth is the only planet that has life and all the requirements to sustain life. It includes water, organic molecules, and other forms of life. It is one of the unique facts about Earth.
Force of gravity
The force of gravity is not similar to all the portions of the earth it is because the earth is not exactly spherical. In areas such as mountain ranges, the force of gravity is much higher and the mass is also heavier. At the equator of Earth, the gravity is lower.
Freshwater
Freshwater occurs on the Earth but in a frozen form. It is not directly available for use. About 70% of water is in the form of ice, and the other 7% is what we have in the soil and the air around us. It means that the water on the Earth is not used up so there is a need to conserve water.
Motion of Earth
The crust of the Earth is constantly moving. Its plates keep changing which means that the surface of the Earth is not merely a solid mass. The hot molten rock pushes these plates around by the common process generally recognized as plate tectonics. It creates volcanoes, and mountain ranges and even causes earthquakes.
Distance between the Moon and Earth
The moon and Earth were once closer but now the distance between them has increased. It means that they are slowly drifting apart. The moon moves about 1.48 inches farther per year. At some point, the moon will move away from the gravitational force of the Earth.
Change in the Earth’s orbit
The Earth’s orbit around the Sun keeps fluctuating. It is becoming more elliptical and in around 100,000 years, it would be completely elliptical. It makes the Earth somewhat closer to the Earth and the UV radiations change its climate.
Population
The population on Earth is constantly growing. But interestingly most of the people are in Asia. According to an estimate, the total population of Earth is about 8 billion.
Sunlight
The sunlight reaches us in about 8 minutes. Depending upon the distance between Sun and Earth, this speed is quite remarkable.
Exploration
We know much about space but know very little about the Earth. The biodiversity in the deep oceans is something still unobserved. Only 15 to 20% of the aquatic life is explored by us now.
Mass of Earth
We are not the only ones gaining weight, but the mass of Earth also increases every year. It is because of the stuff it receives from space like meteors and the atmosphere like rain. This increase is roughly about 50 tons per day. But it does lose some of its mass in the form of gases, especially hydrogen gas.
Volcanoes
The largest number of volcanoes is in the United States of America. Volcanoes erupted there in the past but still, it has 161 volcanoes. Indonesia is famous for having the largest number of active volcanoes during the last 10,000 years.
Movement
As the Earth moves, we also move, and actually, some people can move about thousands of miles depending upon the location they have on Earth. The people who live close to the equator move about 1000 miles per hour. So these are some facts about the earth which you might know.