Earth is the only planet where humans live. Earth from space- Earth is greenish blue in color due to the sunlight being reflected from the oceans of Earth. The Earth does not need to be visited by a spacecraft to study it. More and more interesting and fascinating facts are being discovered about the Earth everyday.

Planet Earth : Facts and Information

Earth gets its name from the 8th century Anglo Saxon word “erda” meaning soil. Planet Earth is not totally round. It is flattened at the North and South poles. How old is the Earth? Earth is about 5 billion years old! There are more than seven billion people on Earth and the number keeps increasing every day. What percent of Earth is water? Seventy percent of the Earth is water! But this is only 0.25 percent of the Earth’s total mass. Eight percent of the earth’s surface is filled with volcanoes. Eleven percent of the earth’s ground is used to grow crops. Ten percent of the Earth’s surface is ice. One fifth of the Earth’s land surface is covered with deserts. Earth science- The temperature at the centre of the Earth- the Earth’s core- is hotter than the temperature of the surface of the sun, at 7500 K. Earthquakes are due to sudden energy release in the Earth’s crust, which is responsible for seismic waves. The distance between the Earth and the sun is one hundred and fifty million kilometers. The Earth’s atmosphere is composed of nitrogen (77%), oxygen (21%) and other gases like carbon dioxide and argon. Earth was initially just composed of hydrogen and helium. Particles from broken stars fell on the Earth and made life on Earth possible. 40,000 dust particles from stars land on Earth every year. We are made of stars! The Earth is the only planet on the solar system to have the three forms of water- liquid, gas and solid. It takes 8 ½ minutes for the sunlight to reach Earth. The sun is 333,000 times larger than Earth. A day on Earth is 23 hours, 56 minutes and four seconds. About 270 million years ago, a continent called Pangaea was formed on Earth. Today we have 7 continents. The Earth’s axis is tilted at an angle of 23 degrees, leading to us experiencing four seasons in a year. Earth Day is celebrated on 22nd April, as that is the day when spring starts in the Northern Hemisphere and fall starts in the Southern Hemisphere. The Earth’s core is composed of iron and nickel. This composition combined with the Earth’s tilting, has led to the Earth possessing a very strong magnetic force. Jean Beliveau walked, everyday for twelve hours, and it took him eleven years to finish walking around the whole of Earth. The highest mountain on the Earth’s surface is Mount Everest on the Himalayas, with a height of 29,029 feet. The highest volcano under sea is Mauna Kea with a height of 33,500 feet. The largest, hottest desert is the Sahara desert, which covers one third of the African continent. The largest sea is the Caspian Sea which covers about 44% of the seas and lakes on Earth. The largest coldest desert is Antarctica. Angel Falls is the highest falls on Earth; water falls from a height of 3212 feet. The Andes is the largest and longest mountain range on Earth. Antarctica is the coldest and driest continent on Earth. The largest cave on Earth is the Sawarak Chamber in Malaysia; it is 400 meters wide and 7 meters long. The Nile is the longest river on Earth, extending over 6825 kilometers. The tallest tree on Earth is called Hyperion and measures 379.1 feet. There could be 5 million plants and trees on Earth, but science has identified around 2 million. The Earth’s oceans’ salts could cover the Earth’s surface five hundred times. The oldest rock on Earth is two billion years old and was found at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The Earth’s only moon is called Luna or Selene or Artemis. It is the brightest object in the sky after the sun.

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