10 The Earth has a powerful magnetic field.
Earth produces it's magnetic field as a result of it's nickel-iron core, which keeps on rotating. This magnetic field is extremely important to the survival of the planet, because it shields the Earth from the effects of Solar flares.
9. Earth did not always have 7 continents.
Scientists have determined that at one particular time, our planet was just one massive supercontinent. Apparently, some 800 million years ago, the great tectonic plates that Earth's landmass ride upon, came together and assembled the continents into one super continent called Rodinia. Some attribute the biblical flood to be a reason why the supercontinent was broken up into the continents we know today.
8. The driest place on Earth is the Atacama desert!
There are a lot of pretty bizarre details about the driest place on earth. First, as ironical as it seems, the driest place in the world is located near the largest body of water. The Pacific ocean. It has an average rainfall of about 1.5 inches and rains about once per century, on average. As a matter of fact, Atacama may not have seen any significant rainfall from 1570 to 1971. Finally, the temperature in the desert can reach highs of 104 degrees Fahrenheit and drop below 41 degrees at night.
7. The Earth isn't actually round.
What shape is the earth? This question has sparked heated debates among scholars in the past. Some say it's flat while others say it's round. In reality, the earth is neither flat nor perfectly round. However, the planet seems to be round to the human eye as a result of tiny variations in the earth's diameter that can't be seen in pictures of earth from space.
6. The days are getting longer.
Studies have shown that at its inception, about 4.6 billion years ago, Earth's day would have been about six hours long. Scientists believe that the length of a day then reached a duration of 21.9 hours, about 620 million years ago. Now we all know that the average day lasts for 24 hours. According to scientists, that's evidence that Earth's day is increasing by about 1.7 milliseconds with each century that passes by.
5. The Earth was almost completely frozen.
That's right! Scientists say that back in time, around 600 to 800 million years ago, our planet went through numerous extreme climate changes known as ice ages. Further evidence has made a lot of scientists believe that Earth was frozen not just once, but multiple times. This process has been termed, "the snowball theory". Whether or not this is true, we'll never know for sure. But it's pretty cool that humans weren't around to feel the chill. Only microscopic and simple organisms were in existence at that time.
4. Earth doesn't have a uniform gravity.
If the scientists who suggested that Earth was a perfect sphere were correct, then our gravitational field would be uniform all around the globe. However, because Earth is in fact bumpy, the pull of gravity is affected by factors such as Ice drift, the movement of the tectonic plates under the Earth's crust, and then, water-flow. Scientists have termed these changes as gravity anomalies. In other words, this means that gravity will be stronger on a mountain range like the Himalayas, than it would be on a featureless, perfectly smooth planet.
3. Sea levels were actually different in the past.
According to scientists, about 70,000 years ago, the most recent advance of ice on our planet began. However, they say it came to an end 11,500 years ago and attained its farthest extent 18,000 years ago. In that period, glaciers and sheet of ice carved out the basins of the great lakes and obstructed rivers. This movement led to the diversion of the courses of the Mississippi and other rivers in the United States. Consequently sea levels drastically dropped by as much as 120 meters or 390 feet because a vast quantity of water was trapped as ice. Scientists say that during the last interglacial period, the sea was five to seven meters or 16 to 22 feet higher than it is presently.
2. There are other bodies, aside from the moon that orbit the Earth.
Many people commonly believe that the moon is the only body that orbits near the earth. On the contrary, it may be surprising to know that two other bodies are orbiting near our planet. These two other bodies are often referred to as moons, even though they aren't considered to be moved by astronomers. The first body is the 3753 Cruithne, which was discovered in 1986. It's an asteroid that orbits the sun. It often seems like Cruithne is following Earth, because it takes the same amount of time to orbit the Sun, as Earth. The second body is the asteroid 2002 AA29. This planetary body is said to follow a more strange horseshoe-shaped path that draws it near to Earth every 95 years.
1. Earth's sun is gonna die.
Don't worry, there's no need to be alarmed. But yes, our Sun, like every other star is aging. And it's going to die eventually. Let me explain. As the Sun exhausts its supply of hydrogen, it will ultimately collapse due to gravity. It means the Sun is going to finally balloon into a red giant. That is 100 times larger and 2000 times more illuminous. The effect of this is that our planet Earth will be vaporized in the process. The relieving news is that scientists have promised that this isn't supposed to happen for about 5 billion years.
That is it from today’s post on Top 10 Interesting Facts On Earth. If you do not agree with the points in the post and have some of your own opinions, share them with us in the comments section down below.
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