Our planet is quite amazing and unique.

It is the only planet in our solar system known to have life, and it is also the most beautiful. (We may be biased here, but you should always be biased towards your mother's beauty.)

There is always something new to learn, so here are 23 facts you probably never knew about Earth!

1. Most people know that Earth is the only planet in our solar system with an atmosphere that easily supports life (oxygen and water). What most people don't know is that the Earth is one of the four terrestrial planets (which means it's rocky on the surface). Venus, Mars and Mercury are the other three.

2. Every 100 years, the Earth's orbit rotates about 2 milliseconds slower. We are slowing down.

3. Surprisingly, we have not explored much of the Earth. About 71% of the Earth's surface is covered with water, and we have barely explored the oceans. In fact, less than 10% (some say less than 5%) of the ocean has been explored. Over 200,000 marine species have been identified in the 10% that have been explored, so just imagine how much more amazing and unexplored remains in the oceans.

4. Despite the fact that most of the Earth's surface is covered with water, 68% of the fresh water on Earth is permanently frozen as ice caps and glaciers.

5. The earth is not quite round. It's a bit of a football field, thanks to the constant rotation. Therefore, despite the ideal sphere that we so often see, it is actually not so ideal.

6. No real black flowers. The planet just doesn't grow them. They are all very deep shades of purple or red, some so dark that our eyes perceive them as black, but they are not true black.

7. The largest earthquake that has ever been recorded occurred on May 22, 1960 in southern Chile near Valdivia. It is referred to as the "Great Chilean Earthquake", with a magnitude of 9.5.

8. The great bristlecone pine in California is believed to be the oldest living organism on Earth, estimated at 5,067 years old. More famous, but slightly younger, is a tree of the same species called Methuselah, which is 4,850 years old.

9. Tides exist because of the moon. The moon's orbit controls the sea level, which results in... high tides. Moonquakes - like earthquakes, but on the Moon - can also affect the tides. If the moon disappears, there will be no tides, and many more unpleasant things will happen to our planet.

10. The largest mountain range and the deepest valley are under the ocean. The Mariana Trench - seven miles deep - is 11 km below the ocean floor, and only three people have been at its bottom. Despite the insane pressure of all the water, there is still life out there.

11. However, despite these high highs and low lows, the Earth is fairly smooth. Considering how big it is - a circumference of 24,901 miles - all these mountains and canyons, if you take into account, 1/5000th of the total circumference. This means that if the Earth were small enough to pick up, it would appear as smooth as a bowling ball.

12. Antarctica is one of the best places to look for meteorites. This is not only due to the fact that there are more of them, but rather because they are quite easy to find due to the lack of vegetation and a lot of snow. More meteorites have been found in Antarctica than anywhere else.

13. If all the ice in Antarctica melted, sea levels would rise 60 meters across the entire Earth.

14. Earth's magnetic poles are moving. They have moved before and they will move again. It's not the end of the world.

15. There are five main layers in the earth's atmosphere - Esphosphere, Thermosphere, Mesosphere, Stratosphere and Troposphere. The higher, the thinner. The densest layer is the troposphere, where weather occurs.

16. There are boiling rivers on Earth. In the Peruvian rainforest, a legitimate shaman cares for and protects the sacred Mayantuyaku healing site. Mayantuyaku has a 4-mile-long river named Shanai-timpishka, which reaches a temperature of 91 ° C, although in some parts it really boils.

17. At least 30 different places on Earth have sand dunes that… sing. They sing and wheeze, and it sounds like something between a swarm of bees and the chanting of monks.

18. Earth's tectonic plates are constantly shuffling around each other, causing earthquakes, tsunamis, and forming mountains. They also play a very important role in the carbon cycle, which means carbon-based life forms do very well here.

19. Due to the amount of heavy elements in the composition of the Earth - lead, uranium - the Earth is the densest planet in the solar system, which gives it the highest surface gravity of any terrestrial object (planets, dwarf planets or moons) in the solar system.

20. The climate in general tends to change from warm to cold. There have been at least 5 major ice ages throughout the history of the planet, and we are technically still living on the tail of the last one, which started just over 3 million years ago and peaked around 20,000 years ago. According to scientists, ice ages start slowly and end abruptly, sometimes warming up to 20°F worldwide in just a few years! In the last 100,000 years alone, at least 24 such rapid temperature changes have occurred on Earth.

21. The moon of the Earth, which does not have an official name like the moons of other planets, is huge compared to the size of the Earth. Most scientists think this is because the Moon was part of the Earth. The theory says that millions of years ago an asteroid crashed into the Earth, causing one part to break off and eventually become the Moon. She just wants to stay close to home.

22. The softest mineral on Earth is talc. Yes, talc, which we use in cosmetics and on babies' feet, as well as in ceramic glazes and paper making.

23. Every year, 40,000 tons of cosmic dust fall on our planet. It is made of oxygen, nickel, iron, carbon and other elements. It's literally stardust. The planet is covered in this dust. We breathe it in. It's pretty cool if you think about it.

Our planet to this day is one of the most mysterious mysteries in the universe, and today we decided to tell you the most interesting facts about the planet earth, which will help to slightly open the veil of this mystery. For many years, scientists have been trying to recreate a picture of the appearance of our planet, its formation, as well as the appearance of life on it. There are many different theories, but so far, none of them is one hundred percent fact.

Planet Earth is considered the only planet in our solar system that has such a wide variety of animal organisms. This is only one planet on which intelligent species exist, although scientific researchers have put forward the theory that there were intelligent beings earlier on Mars.

What to say about the second interesting fact? All the planets in the solar system are named after the names of Roman deities and beings, and the Earth is simply called the Earth. Each nationality has its own name for the land, for example, in English, Earth is Earth.

Seventy percent of the surface of our planet is covered by oceans at a time when other planets cannot boast a similar water content. It was believed that a large amount of water should be on the planet Venus, but soon, scientists realized that they were mistaken. And instead of the promised swamps, they got drought on Venus.

The Earth in our solar system is considered the densest of all existing planets. Here's an interesting fact...

One of the layers of our planet - the Lithosphere is divided into a number of other large plates. This includes: the crust and the upper mantle, it is constantly in motion. And it is because of the collision of these plates that such a catastrophe as an earthquake occurs.

Our planet consists of several layers: magnetosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere. Also comparable to other planets in our solar system, as there are not so many different layers endowing other planets.

Satellites in orbit have been able to determine that during the day the outer layer of the atmosphere becomes wider because it heats up. And at night it narrows again. Interesting fact, isn't it? Imagine that it is day in the US and night in China. And from all sides, the layer of the Earth's atmosphere, according to this theory, has different "shapes".

Our planet has its own atmosphere, which consists of seventy-eight percent nitrogen, and twenty-one percent oxygen, and the last one percent is occupied by various other gases.

The Pacific Ocean is considered the largest ocean on Earth. Its area, by the way, exceeds the entire total land area. Imagine, its area covers approximately one hundred and sixty million one hundred thousand square kilometers! But this interesting fact is probably already known to everyone.

The most accurate topographic map of our planet Earth was released only in 2009, not earlier. One can only imagine that throughout all these years, scientists have been working on a topographic map, and only in 2009 were they able to completely recreate it. It can safely be called a colossal scientific work.

One of the largest continents on Earth, which was many millions of years ago, was called "Pangea".

Terrestrial continents are large areas of land that are separated by water. Millions of years ago, these continents were attached to each other, but the Earth's crust is constantly moving, and that is why the continents were divided for millions of years into those that we know today: Eurasia, America, Australia, and so on. In addition, some especially large islands could be called small continents. This is perhaps the most interesting fact that you might not know.

The magnetic field of our planet, which is created as a result of the rapid rotation of the molten iron core with nickel impurities, has its own definite clear boundaries.

The ozone hole above Antarctica was discovered in 2006. This ozone hole is the largest of all known ozone holes. I would like to note that ozone holes are dangerous, and they can safely be called a "gap" in the atmosphere of our planet. Creepy, but interesting.

The highest point on Earth is a mountain called "Everest", it is eight thousand eight hundred and forty eight meters in height. And it is located in the Himalayas.

The deepest point on our planet is the Mariana Trench. It is located in the Pacific Ocean, its depth is almost eleven thousand meters below sea level. It is said that various strange deep-sea creatures live there. Gradually, scientists find strange fish, and suspect that it is precisely such "monsters" that are found at such a great depth below sea level.

The only "natural" satellite of our planet is the Moon. The Moon is considered the fifth largest natural satellite in our entire solar system. The distance from us to the moon is more than three hundred thousand kilometers.

The rotation of the Moon around its own axis is completely synchronized with the rotation of our planet Earth. That is why we always see only one side of the satellite. Many people wondered: what is it, the far side of the moon? Over time, the Moon began to be used as a theme for songs, music, poetry and fiction. The cult of the Moon existed, by the way, among many pagans. Someone believed that the Moon is the personification of the Great Mother Goddess. When the Moon grows, the Goddess looks like a beautiful and young girl. When the Moon is full, the Goddess became a woman at the very dawn of her powers, and when the Moon wanes, the Goddess grows old.

All weather forecasts are determined by the distribution of steam in the atmosphere. Everything is so simple, and no shamans and psychics change the weather and cannot control it. There is atmosphere, there is steam. And the last fact for today, the twentieth fact: the reason for the change of the four seasons of the year is something other than the equatorial inclination of the planet Earth to the orbit of twenty-three degrees. That is why we have summer, autumn, winter and spring.

The big bang theory is just one of the assumptions that has no solid evidence. Therefore, it is impossible to say unequivocally how it arose.

But we will tell you what is reliably known about the Blue Planet, as our common home is also called.

One Earth day is the time it takes for a planet to rotate on its axis. The stars that we see return to their places in the sky every 23 hours 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds. This is the so-called star day. A sunny day takes exactly 24 hours.

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Its mass is 5.9726 1024 kg.

The distance from the Earth to the Sun is on average 150 million km, and from the Earth to the Moon - 384,467 km.

Why does the earth rotate

An interesting fact is that the rotation of the Earth around the Sun can be explained by its fall. The gravity (force of attraction) of the Sun causes the Earth to rotate around itself and around its axis in the same way as the Earth's gravity makes a ball thrown from a mountain roll. The speed at which the Earth moves around the Sun is approximately 29.765 km/s.

Age of the Earth

It is believed that the age of the earth is approximately 4.5 billion years. The age was established by taking into account the meteorites that fell to the Earth during its formation.

Again, it is scientifically incorrect to call these facts unambiguous due to the lack of reliable evidence.

What is the earth made of

The core of the Earth is made up of iron and nickel, which is the reason for the force of gravity. The crust is formed mainly from oxygen and silicon. Between them is the mantle - molten silicon and sulfur compounds of metals, as well as their oxides.

What is the size of the earth

About we wrote a separate article. Briefly, we only note that at the equator the circumference of our planet is 40,075 km. The diameter is 12,578 km. The diameter of the Earth at the poles is less than 43 kilometers, that is, at the poles the planet is, as it were, flattened.

What is the shape of the earth

Some people think that the Earth is a perfect sphere. In fact, things are a little different. At the equator, our planet is slightly convex, so the speed of the Earth's rotation is higher there. An interesting fact is that the shape of the globe is called "genoid".

How long is a year on Earth

One Earth year is the time it takes the planet Earth to complete one revolution around the sun. The length of the path is 938,886,400 km. We cover this distance in 365.24 days. We round the calendar year to 365 days, no tail. But in science there are no superfluous "tails".

What is a leap year

An interesting fact is that scientists do not neglect 0.24 days, which are not included in the usual calendar. It is for this reason that every four years at the end of February there is one additional day (February 29).

When this happens, we call such a year a leap year. Interestingly, once every 4 centuries, one leap year is also skipped. That's such a confusing piece of science!

How is Earth different from other planets

Earth is the only planet with a temperature that allows water to float on the surface and an atmosphere that contains vital oxygen. Water and oxygen are the most necessary ingredients for the planet to have the possibility of life.

In no other place in the Universe has modern science discovered even approximate conditions for life, except for planet Earth, on which we live.

Think you know everything about your planet? Surprisingly, millions of people can talk for hours about black holes and time distortions, the formation of pulsars and white dwarfs, while they know practically nothing about their own home. We decided to correct this injustice and collected for you the most interesting facts about the Earth and its riches - read on!

1. More than 4 billion years ago, our planet was red

There was no water, no forest. The earth rotated in a spiral at an enormous speed, and one day on the planet was equal to only 6 hours. Moreover, asteroids were circling around the earth's orbit, instead of land - waves of lava and clots of gases. And also the Moon influenced the gravitational field 25 times stronger than today. How did the Earth become the way we know it? Thanks to bacteria that have learned to absorb sunlight and produce chlorophyll.

2. The disappearance of 80% of living things was caused by one bacterium

Some facts about the Earth are closely related to theories. For example, there is a theory that about 253 million years ago, when more than 80% of all marine creatures died out, the anomaly was caused by the reproduction of the bacterium methanosarcina. It produces methane and lives almost everywhere - both in the waters of the oceans and in our intestines. However, such a mass extinction led to the appearance of dinosaur ancestors.

3. The Moon is a breakaway part of the Earth

According to another theory, at the very beginning there was not even a moon. 4.3 billion years ago, the Earth collided with the planet Theia, as a result of a powerful explosion, part of its mantle broke off and formed a satellite. Moreover, judging by the uneven surface of the Moon, there could be several satellites, which led to their collision and the formation of additional craters.

4. Sunlight takes 8 minutes to reach Earth

In this list, one cannot fail to mention those that are related to physics. For example, the fact that the distance between our planet and the Sun is huge - about 150 million km, which is why light reaches the Earth with a difference of almost 500 seconds.

5. Someday all continents will unite again

The last time all the continents united into one supercontinent was about 300 million years ago, scientists gave it the name Pelageya. A little later, the earth split into 2 parts - Gondwana and Laurasia, which were divided into 6 more continents known now. But after 260-290 million years, the continents will meet again and become one.

6. There is so much gold in the bowels of our planet that it can cover the entire surface of the globe

Facts about the Earth such as this one will interest lovers of precious metals. So, gold. Most of the gold is hidden at the bottom of the oceans. If you get it, without exception, every person can become the proud owner of 5 kg of precious metal. However, by that time it will cease to be so! By the way, tons of gold are contained in sea water, alas, in dissolved form.

7. Fresh water reserves are only 2.5% of the total mass of water

Yes, yes, the remaining 97.5% belong to the seas and ocean basins, in which the water is salty and initially undrinkable. Among other things, almost 70% of all fresh water is buried in glaciers, 20% contains Lake Baikal. And the rest is accounted for by rivers, lakes and the atmosphere in general. Frightening statistics, isn't it?

8. The driest place on Earth is located in the snow-white valleys of Antarctica

Since we are giving facts about the Earth, let's talk about the most-very places. For example, the Chilean desert, which has not seen precipitation for more than 2 thousand years, occupies only the second line in the top of the driest. The first belongs to the Dry Valleys of the McMurdo Strait, which have not been irrigated by water for more than 2 million years. And also the craziest winds rage here, which accelerate over 310 km / h.

9. The lowest, highest and deepest points of the Earth

It's no secret that the Dead Sea is in first place among the lowest points on Earth - 432 m below sea level. In addition, while it continues to fall at a fairly high speed. The depth of the Mariana Trench, according to recent measurements at the Challenger Deep, has reached 10,994 m below sea level. But the title of the highest peak continues to be held by Mount Chomolungma (located in the Himalayas) with a height of 8848 meters.

10. Most Dense and Lowest Population Density

Let's put the geographic facts about the Earth aside and talk about the population. If you are an introvert in a cube, the most suitable place for you is Canada, Nunavut Territory. Because the population density there does not exceed 0.02 people / km². But the most densely populated, where you will definitely not be allowed to breathe, is Bangladesh, over 1087 people / km² live there.

11. Due to the ellipsoid shape, the Earth has uneven gravity.

Scientists have discovered fluctuations in gravity caused by the unequal mass of the Earth and the movements of its magma. So, the Hudson Bay in Canada has a slightly underestimated gravity, which, in fact, is an anomaly. The reason lies in the fact that the Earth has not yet had time to recover from the ice age, which shifted part of its mass, significantly deforming the crust.

12. The most devastating volcanic eruption happened in Indonesia

Unfortunately, not all facts about the Earth are positive - catastrophes and natural disasters also need to be remembered. For example, on Mount Tamobra in 1815 there was such a strong eruption that its roar could be heard 2 thousand kilometers from the very point of events. Then the VEI scale assigned him 7 points out of 8. And today, according to the estimates of meteorological centers, the Cumbre Vieja eruption will be the most dangerous. Its consequences will be hundred-meter waves that will cover West Africa and part of America.

13. Lakes on our planet can explode

This oddity can happen to those lakes that are located in the craters of volcanoes. For example, such as Nyos and Kivu in Cameroon. So, the magma under them releases a large amount of CO2, which accumulates at the bottom of the lake and can explode at any moment, cutting off oxygen.

However, no facts about Earth compare to this: it is the only planet in the Milky Way that has an atmosphere, oceans of water and colorful natural landscapes, the very existence of which made it possible for man to appear. Isn't this an amazing discovery that sets it apart from billions of other planets?

Earth is the most unique planet in our galaxy (at least it will stay that way until we find another planet that has life). In fact, it is so unique that people throughout the history of mankind have studied it and still do not fully understand all its processes. However, what we know about our planet is that it can pleasantly surprise us. From the absurd number of lightning strikes a day to the varying strength of gravity in different parts of it, the twenty-five facts about the Earth that we will discuss below can really surprise you:

25. The driest place on Earth is the McMurdo Dry Valleys. It hasn't rained there in the last two million years.

24. Every year, the wind carries 40 million tons of dust from the Sahara to the Amazon.

23. The temperature of the Earth's core is 5500 degrees Celsius and is equal to the temperature of the surface of the Sun.

22. 99 percent of the earth is in its core.

21. Earth is the only planet in the solar system that has plate tectonics. Without it, carbon dioxide would not be processed and the planet would overheat like Venus.

20. 90 percent of the volcanoes on planet Earth are under water.

19. 1 liter of salt water contains 13 billionths of a gram of gold.

18. Salt water makes up 97 percent of all water on Earth.

17. 70 percent of the remaining 3 percent is in the form of polar ice caps.

16. Most of the rest of the water is either soil moisture or located deep underground in inaccessible aquifers.

15. 1/5 of the small fraction of fresh water that is actually in lakes and rivers is located in one place - Lake Baikal in Russia.

14. There are 8.6 million lightning strikes on Earth every day.

13. From a distance, Earth would be the brightest planet because sunlight reflects off its water surface.

12. At an altitude of 19 kilometers, we encounter a phenomenon known as the Armstrong Line (Armstrong Limit). It is from this height that a person should be in a spacesuit, because due to low pressure, water boils at body temperature.

11. The Earth's orbit is polluted by 38,000 anthropogenic objects.

10. The size of 22000 of them exceeds 10 meters.

9. Every day at least one of these objects falls to the Earth.

8. To be precise, there are not 24 hours in a day. It takes only 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds for the Earth to rotate on its axis. This concept is known as sidereal day.

7. Contrary to popular belief, the Great Wall of China is not visible from space. However, air pollution in China can be seen from space. You can also see the Great Barrier Reef from space.

6. The farthest photograph was taken from a distance of 6 billion kilometers from Earth. It is called "Pale Blue Dot", which means "pale blue dot".

5. The ozone hole is actually shrinking and in 2012 reached its smallest size in a decade.

4. Plastic makes up 90 percent of the trash in the world's oceans.

3. The earth is not a perfect sphere, due to the force of rotation, the earth is actually convex at the equator.

2. Due to this anomaly, in some regions the force of attraction is greater or less than in others. One such place is Hudson Bay in Canada. However, the difference is very small, only 0.005 percent.

1. We know more about our Universe than we do about the oceans or the Earth's core. In fact, we have not yet explored 95 percent of the world's oceans.