12 Crazy Facts About Earth You Never Learned In School. Earth, our dynamic and complex planet, is still full of surprises. Recent discoveries and scientific advancements have revealed fascinating aspects of our world, from its core to its atmosphere. This article explores 12 remarkable facts about Earth, shedding light on its geological history, unique features, and awe-inspiring phenomena. Buckle up for a journey that will expand your knowledge and appreciation of our incredible planet.
1. There’s only one other planet in our galaxy that could be Earth-like according to scientists.
Humans have been searching for other life forms in the universe, as well as planets that humans can possibly inhabit in the future. So far, astronomers have discovered 4,422 exoplanets, but only a handful of them are considered to be potentially habitable. Studies, however, show that one planet, Kepler-442B, comes close to receiving enough sunshine to sustain a large biosphere. While there are many things we don’t know about this rocky planet, scientists do know that Kepler-442B is about twice the mass of the Earth and about 1,100 light-years away. Using collective data, the Earth is assigned a habitability rating of 0.829, slightly lower than that of Kepler-442B, which is rated 0.836.
According to NASA, if we travel at the speed of light, at about 671 million miles per hour, it will take us approximately 1,000 years to get to Kepler-442B. If we travel at the speed of Voyager 1, a space probe launched by NASA, and travel at 38,000 miles per hour, it will take us 21 million years to get to Kepler-442B.
2. The moon could have been a part of the Earth.
According to the Fission Theory, the moon could have been once part of the Earth and was somehow separated from the Earth early in the history of the solar system. The theory also states that the present Pacific Ocean basin is the most popular site for the part of the Earth from which the moon came.
3. The Sahara Desert plays a huge role in fertilizing the Amazonian soil.
Dust is capable of traveling far away, and according to NASA’s Earth Observatory, hundreds of millions of tons of desert dust blow across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa every year. The sand from the Sahara is picked up by heavy winds and dropped at Earth’s largest rainforest, fertilizing the soil. The dust also plays a huge role in disrupting storms by suppressing cloud formations.
4. Mount Everest isn’t the Earth’s tallest mountain.
Mount Everest is indeed the tallest mountain above sea level but if we’re talking about the total height, base to summit, then the tallest mountain is Mauna Kee on the island of Hawaii. Everest stands 29,035 feet above sea level. Mauna Kea only stands 13,796 feet above sea level, but the mountain extends about 19,700 feet below the Pacific Ocean, making the total height of Mauna Kee at about 33,500 feet.
5. The sun is bigger than you can imagine.
The sun is approximately 91,573 million miles away from us, and from that distance, it looks like a tiny speck in the sky. In reality, however, the sun is gigantic. A million duplicates of Earth could comfortably fit inside of it. According to NASA, the sun’s core releases powerful energy that would be devastating if we were closer, but thanks to the distance, it’s enough to provide us with heat and light for life to thrive.
6. Earth’s core is as hot as the sun’s surface.
The Earth’s core is as hot as the Sun’s outer layer. Earth’s inner core is a hot, dense ball of mostly iron, at approximately 9,392 degrees Fahrenheit. The Sun’s surface is 9,941 degrees Fahrenheit, while the Sun’s core is about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Clouds help regulate Earth’s temperature.
Clouds also play a major role in regulating Earth’s temperature by acting as an atmospheric blanket. During the day, clouds reflect a portion of the solar energy that reaches Earth back into space. They also limit the cooling that occurs in a region at night, as well as reflect heat back to Earth.
8. Gravity acts differently in some parts of the planet.
For more than four decades, scientists have been trying to figure out an anomaly that causes large parts of Canada particularly the Hudson Bay region to be missing gravity. To put it simply, gravity in the Hudson Bay area and surrounding regions is lower than in other parts of the world. Thanks to modern technology and a pair of satellites known as GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment), scientists have finally discovered why this phenomenon occurs.
Earth’s irregular shape causes uneven mass distribution, resulting in gravity fluctuations across different locations. According to How Stuff Works “At a basic level, gravity is proportional to mass. So, when the mass of an area is somehow made smaller gravity is made smaller.
9. Earth’s heart is filled with gold.
The Earth’s core is indeed filled with gold, enough to cover the entire land surface of the planet with a 1.6 feet layer, according to ABC Science, Professor Bernard Wood, a geologist from Macquarie University, in Sydney made his remarkable calculations based on research published in the issues of the journal Nature.
10. Australia is moving away so quickly that maps and GPS systems need to be updated regularly.
Australia moves so rapidly that its tectonic plate shift requires periodic adjustments and calibrations to maps and GPS systems. According to National Geographic, it moved almost five feet between 1994 and 2016. Scientists believe that in about 50 million years Australia will be colliding with South East Asia and in about 250 million years the continent might all merge into a single supercontinent again like Pangaea.
11. There’s a river in the Peruvian Amazon where water temperatures are so high it will cook anything that falls into the water.
When Geophysicist Andres Ruzo was little, his grandmother used to tell him stories about a river that was boiling hot. Ruzo kept searching for this river, even though his professors told him that the stories were nothing but myths. After years of relentless searching, Ruzo finally discovered the river. And in an interview with National Geographic, he explained: ‘It’s a non-volcanic geothermal feature flowing at anomalously high rates’. This means that it’s just very hot water, getting up to about 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Originating deep beneath Earth, it rises rapidly, retaining heat before emerging into the river.
12. Earth used to be purple.
University of Maryland scientists propose that ancient life on Earth may have been predominantly purple. The study suggests that ancient microbes might have used a molecule other than chlorophyll to harness the Sun’s rays. These molecules can give microbes a violet hue, therefore, all the planets may have been purple.
