Earth is our beloved planet where we live and we'll live for many more years to come. We’ve done a great deal to this planet - sometimes creating works of beauty, but oftentimes showcasing the worst that humans can dish out. Planet Earth has many wonders and amazing facts hidden in it. Let's look at some of the amazing facts about the earth.
1. Out of 9 known planets to us, the planet Earth is at 5th spot in size comparison.
2. It would take 1.3 million earths combined together to make the size of the sun.
3. It's estimated that more than 80 percent of Earth's surface is volcanic in origin.
4. Ninety percent of all volcanic activity occurs in the oceans.
5. In 1993 scientists located the largest known concentration of active volcanoes on the seafloor in the South Pacific, this area the size of New York State hosts 1133 volcanic cones and seamounts.
6. Earth is currently home to up to 14 million different species of life.
7. Scientists estimate that over 99% of all species that ever lived on our planet are now extinct.
8. The real earth day is actually falling short of 24 hours with earth completing its full rotation within 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.1 seconds.
9. The First 24-hours clock is traced back to ancient Egypt, which divided the day into 10 hours of the day, 12 hours of the night, with one hour added at twilight and one at the end of the day.
10. According to some lunar scientists Earth had two moons at one point in the time.
11. The second moon was much smaller of today's moon and only survived a few million years. It collided with the moon and made only one moon which we see today.
12. Though around 27% the size of Earth, the Moon is actually the 5th largest natural satellite in the solar system, only falling behind Jupiter’s Ganymede, Callisto, and Io and Saturn’s Titan.
13. Our moon is 4.5 billion years old and approximately 238,855 miles away from Earth.
14. According to NEIC, approximately 50 earthquakes a day are recorded, or around 18,000 a year.
15. But according to United States Geological Survey, there are several million each year, with so many going undetected either because they’re in remote areas or due to their very small magnitudes.
16. Prior to the introduction of intelligent humanoid life, Earth was known for its “larger than life” inhabitants.
17. Among the more sizable things that once lived on the Earth’s surface were what scientists believed to be giant mushrooms, up to 24 feet or 8 meters high.
18. We have only explored about 5% of the ocean so far.
19. The deepest point in the sea is Mariana Trench, located in the western Pacific Ocean, just east of the Mariana Islands, reaches a depth of 36,070 feet or 10,994 meters below sea level.
20. Earth is the only planet not named after a god, the other planets in our solar system are all named after Roman gods or goddesses.
21. According to scientists from 100 billion to 115 billion people have lived on earth so far.
22. The world's current population is about 7.3 billion with China and India accounting for almost one-third of it.
23. Floating in the Pacific Ocean there's something known as the eighth continent aka the Great Pacific Garbage Patch it's estimated to be twice the size of the US and is made entirely out of garbage.
- Read more: 80 amazing and interesting facts about Mars
24. 90% of all the rubbish in the ocean is plastics.
25. The Nile is the longest river on earth flowing through 11 African countries. It is a primary water source for Egypt in Sudan and is 6,853 kilometers or 4258 miles long.
26. About 100 tons of dust-sized micrometeoroids enter our Earth's atmosphere every day.
27. In some places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle during summer months, the Sun is visible for a full 24 hours, this bizarre phenomenon is known as the Midnight Sun or polar day.
28. Canada has the longest coastline of any country, with 56,500 miles or 91 thousand kilometers making almost 15% of the world's coastlines.
29. There are places on earth with less gravity or no gravity than other regions.
30. The highest temperature ever recorded on earth was 56.7 Celsius or 134 Fahrenheit measured at furnace creek ranch Death Valley California in 1913.
31. The lowest temperature ever recorded on earth was -89.2 Celsius or -128.6 Fahrenheit measured at Vostok station Antarctica in 1983.
32. The earth's inner core is more hotter than the surface of the sun. The temperature at the Earth's inner core may reach up to 6,000 degrees Celsius or 10,830 degrees Fahrenheit compared to the 5,500 degrees Celsius or 9,940 Fahrenheit temperature of Sun's surface.
33. The driest place in the world is the Atacama Desert located on a plateau in South America. In the center of this desert, there are some areas where rain has never been recorded.
34. According to some astrobiologists, the earth could have been purple, this theory is based on the fact that life forms of early Earth were retinol-based rather than chlorophyll based, thus making earth appear more purple than green.
35. The Great Barrier Reef located in the Coral Sea off the coast of Australia is the largest living structure on earth, covering an area of approximately 340 4,400 square kilometers or 130 3,000 square feet. Composed of 2,900 individual reefs, the structure is so big to be seen from space.
36. The blue whale is the largest existing animal and the heaviest animal that has ever lived on earth with a weight of over 180 tonnes.
37. The world's longest mountain range is found on the bottom of the sea known as the mid-ocean ridge. This underwater chain of volcanoes spans about 40,400 miles or 65,000 kilometers across the ocean bottom.
38. There have been discoveries of other planets many, many light-years away of planets that are quite similar to our Earth.
39. In September of 2010, a planet is known as Planet G, or Gliese 581g, in the Gliese 581 system was located. Planet G is said to be able to support life, similar to that found on Earth.
40. The rock formation located on the shore of Hudson Bay near Quebec is rumored to have the oldest rocks found on earth, with an estimated age of about 4.3 billion years.
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