Buzz
While Earth is one of the most explored planets, there are still countless discoveries waiting to be made. A large portion of our oceans remain uncharted, and every time we uncover new depths, we find hundreds of undiscovered species. Rainforests continually offer up new plants and animals as we explore them. Our planet is always evolving, revealing hidden wonders for us to appreciate. It took many years and brilliant minds to figure out how to break through Earth's atmosphere and venture into the vastness of space. Here are ten astonishing facts about our planet that might surprise you.
10. The Earth's Atmosphere
Earth is surrounded by several atmospheric layers, such as the mesosphere, ionosphere, exosphere, and thermosphere. However, it’s the troposphere, the layer closest to the surface, that sustains life. This layer, while vital, is also the thinnest, measuring only about 10 miles in height.
9. Deserts
It might surprise you, but most deserts on Earth aren’t made up solely of sand. In fact, around 85% of them consist of rocks and gravel. The largest desert, the Sahara, spans roughly one-third of Africa (and continues to expand), a region that could almost cover the entire United States.
8. The Big Blue Marble
The Earth isn't perfectly round. It is actually an oblate spheroid, which means it's slightly flattened at the poles.
7. Salty Oceans
If you were able to evaporate all the water from Earth’s oceans and spread the remaining salt across the land, you would cover the entire planet with a 500-foot layer of salt.
6. Lakes and Seas
The Caspian Sea, the world’s largest inland body of water (sometimes considered a lake), is located at the border between Iran and Russia.
5. Mountains
The Andes, stretching 4,525 miles through South America, are the longest mountain range in the world. Other notable ranges include the Rockies in second place, the Himalayas in third, the Great Dividing Range in Australia in fourth, and the Trans-Antarctic Mountains in fifth. For every 980 feet you ascend in the mountains, the temperature drops by about degrees.
4. Deep Water
Lake Baikal, located in the former USSR, holds the title of the deepest lake in the world. It stretches 400 miles in length and about 30 miles in width, but its depth reaches an astonishing 5,371 feet, which is just over a mile. It’s so deep, in fact, that it is believed the combined volume of all five of the Great Lakes could fit into it.
3. Shaky Ground
Earthquakes can cause immense destruction, and many of them lead to fatalities. However, the Earth actually releases about 1 million earthquakes annually, though nearly all of them go unnoticed.
2. Hot, Hot, Hot
While many people believe Death Valley in California, USA, holds the record for the hottest place on Earth, it occasionally does. However, the highest recorded temperature was in Azizia, Libya, which reached 136°F (57.8°C) on September 13, 1922. Death Valley's highest recorded temperature was 134°F on July 10, 1913.
1. Dust in the Wind
According to experts at the USGS, approximately 1,000 tons of space debris fall to Earth each year.
Source: Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader
