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Over 7 billion people live on our planet, yet the majority of them know so little about it. This is a sad fact as we are the only creatures on earth, and possibly in the universe, that can know something about the planet we live on. That said, there are so many amazing factoids to learn about our planet that we've provided you with 19 of them to get you started. Learn your stuff and then pass it along so that many more can come to appreciate the wonder of our Earth. |
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| The Earth actually isn't round due to centrifugal forces that push outwards at the Equator, making the Earth appear slightly elliptical. |
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| If you stand on the equator, you will spin around the Earth's center at 1000 miles per hour, or 1609 km/h. However, when standing at either the North or South poles, you would remain standing still, although turning in a circle. See the difference? |
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| The rocks that we know today will one day be recycled. The job of volcanoes is to spit them up as magma, after which they dry, harden, and then after a long time, get sucked back down again. This cycle occurs as a result of plate tectonics and the old rocks get pushed to the Earth's core by the fresh layer of rocks above. |
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| The hottest temperature ever recorded on the Earth's surface was 136 degrees Fahrenheit, 57.8 degrees Celsius, in El Azizia, Libya in 1922. |
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| The coolest spot ever recorded was at Antarctica's Vostok Station with a reading of -128.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or -89.2 degrees Celsius. |
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| Although it is the only continent uninhabited regularly by human beings, Antarctica contains about 70 percent of the Earth's fresh water and over 90 percent of it's ice. It may be deserted, but it sure is precious! |
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| Gravity is not distributed equally on our planet. In certain locations like Hudson Bay, Canada, there is actually less gravity than in other regions of the globe. This occurs when there is less land mass in one location as opposed to another. |
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| The Earth's magnetic pole moves northwards at a rate of 10 miles per year, which means that in a few hundred or thousand years, it is possible that they will have completely different coordinates than those we are used to. Also, our magnetic poles will eventually switch, making these facts even more confusing. |
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| Some scientists believe that it was possible that Earth had two moons at one point. The smaller moon lasted only a few million years, and it eventually collided with the moon we know today. In fact, there are still some scientists who claim that we have two moons because every now and then an asteroid gets sucked into the Earth's orbit and can stick around for up to 9 months! |
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| We have all heard of earthquakes, but have you ever heard of a moon quake? Moon quakes may occur only on the surface of the moon, but they can actually have an effect on Earth by influencing the schedule of the tides. |
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| On Earth there are rocks that can move! In Death Valley, California, rocks weighing hundreds of pounds slide across the desert floor, leaving trails in their wake. Most scientists attribute this fantastic phenomenon to wind and ancient ice that used to cover the surface. |
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| The Earth's longest mountain range is actually underwater. It is called the Mid Ocean Ridge System and it stretches 80,000 kilometers all the way around the world. That makes it nearly 20 times longer than the Andes Mountain Range on the surface of the Earth. Also, the underwater mountain range is completely volcanic! |
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| The most active erupting volcano on the surface of the Earth is the Stromboli Volcano in southern Italy. Over the past 2,000 years, it has erupted almost continuously which has earned it the nickname "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean". |
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| In Africa, between the borders of Cameroon, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are a set of lakes that sit on volcanic earth. As a result, there are large pockets of dangerous volcanic gases that are trapped beneath them. If they ever exploded, they would asphyxiate and kill any passerby. |
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| Over 70 percent of the planet is covered in oceans, but humans have only explored 5 percent of it. If anything, this fact is a testament to the limits of human intelligence because oceans hold nearly 20 million tons of gold! In fact, there is enough undissolved gold on the seafloor to put about $15 dollars in every individual's hands. Don't get any ideas! |
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| The deepest spot on Earth is the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. It extends nearly 11 kilometers beneath the surface of the ocean (about 7 miles), and only 3 people have ever ventured there. |
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| Coral reefs are the largest living structures on the planet. They are constructed of millions of tiny polyps, and some of them are even visible from space. They also contain the highest density and diversity of life on the planet - even more than the rainforests. This may make sense because according to theories of evolution, all of our most ancient ancestors come from the sea! |
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| About 100 tons of interplanetary material falls down to the Earth's surface every day. This material is usually the ice of comets as it vaporizes near the sun. Maybe that's the reason we've never seen an alien? |
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| Finally, the largest single living organism, besides the coral reefs, was a mushroom fungus that grew 2,200 acres in Oregon! Pretty impressive for an ordinary mushroom! |
