Earth is one of eight planets in the Solar system. It is the third planet from the Sun and the biggest terrestrial planet (planet with hard soil unlike gas planets) in the SOLAR SYSTEM. Planet Earth has one natural satellite, the Moon. So far it is the only known planet that sustains life. In geological sciences an opinion is prevalent that the Earth is old about 4.6 billion years which was determined by comparing half-life of uranium and thorium.
The Earth also reacts to external world in certain degree. Its relatively large satellite, the MOON, influences tidal movements, stabilizes the change of Earth’s tilt, and also gradually changes the length of rotational period of Earth. Comet rain in early period after the Earth was formed played a large role in creation of oceans. Later, collisions with asteroids caused considerable changes on the surface of Earth. It is believed that periodic changes in the planet’s orbit lead to the appearance of ice ages during of which a considerable part of the Earth’s surface was covered in ice. If we think we know our planet well, there are certain facts that are known by only a small number of people.
10FACT No 10
Besides Antarctica, there is only one piece of land on Earth not claimed by a country. Bir Tawil lies between Egypt and Sudan, but neither country wants it.
09FACT No 9
There are around 8.7 million different species on Erath. Up to 200 species become extinct every day - a rate not seen since the extinction of DINOSAURS.
08FACT No 8
To leave Earth and enter space it is widely accepted that you need to reach the Karman line at 100 km attitude. To become a U.S. astronaut you only need to hit 80 km.
07FACT No 7
The length of a day on Earth increases by two milliseconds per century. A day will last 25 hours and a year 335 days in 200 million years.
06FACT No 6
There are exploding lakes in West Africa that kill people by suffocating them. They release huge gas clouds - one cloud killed 1700 people in 1986.
05FACT No 5
Earth’s magnetic field is weakest in the South Atlantic Anomaly. Space radiation here can damage satellites, shut down space station computers and affect astronauts’ vision.
04FACT No 4
There are around 20 million tons of gold in the world’s oceans. It so diluted that a liter of seawater only contains 13 billionths of a gram.
03FACT No 3
There were nuclear reactors on earth 2 billion years ago. They occurred naturally in uranium deposits in Gabon and produced enough power to run about 30 toasters.
02FACT No 2
Assuming no air resistance, it would take around 40 minutes to travel from pole to pole if you jumped into a tunnel through the earth. Humans have only managed to drill 0.2% of this way to the center.
01FACT No 1
There’s a theory that Earth was nearly destroyed in a collision with a mystery planet, Theia. The impact debris is said to have made a ring around earth, which became the Moon.
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