Facts about our Planet Earth

Our Home

Our Earth in Space

• http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/earth.htm

• Our Solar System is centered around our sun, one of 200 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy

• The diameter of the Milky Way Galaxy is 100,000 light years

Our Solar System

• http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/earth.htm

You must know the 8 planets (9 including Pluto) of our solar system in their correct sequence: “My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas”

Light requires 8 minutes and 20 seconds to travel from our Sun to our Earth

Our Earth

• Our Earth is 4.56 billion years old• We orbit the sun at a speed of 67,000 mph• The tilt of the Earth’s axis is 23.45 degrees• One year (one trip around the sun) is 365.25 days• One day (one rotation) requires 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds• The diameter of our Earth is 7,926 miles• The Earth’s temperature ranges from -126 (Vostok, Antartica) to 136 degrees Fahrenheit

(Libya)

Our Hydrosphere

• 71 % of the Earth’s surface is covered by water• Clean water is the second most valuable substance on Earth, second to diamonds• The Pacific Ocean is one of the biggest features on the planet and contains half of the worlds

water

Our Hydrosphere continued

• http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://gpm.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Hydrosphere continued

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sea_salt-e-dp_hg.svg

Cryosphere

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ipyroam.utep.edu/education/images/glaciers/122407-paradise-glacier-calving-decardenas.gal.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzetCAlfgTQ

Geosphere

• Land accounts for 29 % of the Earth’s surface• On average, only about 3.5 percent of Earth’s surface is suitable for agriculture

without any physical constraints(http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/unit/text.php?unit=7&secNum=2)

Geosphere continued

• Click on the following web address to see the composition of the Earth’s surface• http://chartsbin.com/view/wwu

Composition of the Earth’s surface

• http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.worldproutassembly.org/earth2_88.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2008/03/

• Composition of the Earth’s surface:– 32.1% iron 30.1% oxygen– 15.1% silicon 13.9% magnesium– Other elements: carbon, nickel, aluminum, calcium, potassium, sodium

Our Atmosphere

• http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.agci.org/classroom/images/aurora_borealis.png&imgrefurl=http://www.agci.org/classroom/

• Composition of our Atmosphere:– 78% nitrogen– 21% oxygen– 1% trace gases (.03% carbon dioxide)

Our Atmosphere continued:

• http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/images/spacesuit_layers.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/educators/

• 90% of the mass of the Earth’s atmosphere is contained in the first ten kilometers• Average atmospheric pressure is 14.7 pounds per square inch

Biosphere

• http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://a3.vox.com/6a00fa96960b0b00020110180581d3860f-500pi&imgrefurl=http://gumptious.vox.com/l

• Life on Earth began approx. 3.5 billion years ago• Complex life (multi-cellular) exploded in its diversity approx. 500 million years ago

Biosphere continued

• Human population is currently approx. 6.75 billion• Over the last 550-600 million years, the time over which we have a fossil record of multicellular animals,

there have been many several mass extinctions, five of which are commonly listed as having been the most intense. Here they are, with suggested causes:Five Mass Extinctions1. End Ordovician (~445 Ma); ~12% of families, ~ 65% species; large glaciation/sea level fall??2. Late Devonian (~365 Ma); ~ 14% of families, ~ 72% species; impact (Siljan Crater)?3. End Permian (~250 Ma); ~ 52 % families, >90% species; impact (Bedout Crater)?; flood basalts (Siberia); one continent; global warming; low oxygen conditionsFive Mass Extinctions (4-5)4. End Triassic (~210 Ma); ~ 12% families, ~ 65% species; impact (Manicouagan Crater); flood basalts (Central Atlantic)5. End Cretaceous (65 Ma); ~11% families, ~ 62% species; impact (Chixculub Crater); flood basalts (Deccan, India)-(http://ethomas.web.wesleyan.edu/ees123/mass_extinctions.htm)