How much energy can the sun provide?
According to the American Solar Energy Society, enough sunlight falls on the earth's surface each minute to meet world energy demand for an entire year.
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Earth Facts
Earth facts and facts about the earth: ground, weather, and the rock we are all standing on.
87 facts on this shelf
Hottest place on Earth
What is the hottest place on Earth? El Azizia in Libya recorded a temperature of 136 degrees Fahrenheit (57.8 Celsius) on Sept. 13, 1922 the hottest ever measured. In Death Valley, it got up to 134 Fahrenheit on July 10, 1913.
what is the world's oldest animal
The oldest animal on Earth was born in 1830 Her name is Harriet, she's a Galapagos land tortoise
The longest coldest night on earth
The darkest time of year at the North Pole is the Winter Solstice, approximately December 21. There has been no sunlight or even twilight since early October. The darkness lasts until the beginning of dawn in early March
Now you can see what's happening in the arctic at http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/gallery_np.html
How big is South America?
South America has an area of 17,840,000 km² (6,890,000 sq mi), or almost 3.5% of the Earth's surface. South America ranks fourth in area (after Asia, Africa, and North America) and fifth in population (after Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America)
The biggest brands in the world
The 3 most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.
A fact about life on earth
Half of all living things live on 6% of the land on the planet, the rain forest. No word on how much this fact changes everyday, but it's safe to say it's an estimate.
Creepy crawly fact about planet Earth
The world's termites outweigh the world's humans 10 to 1.
What is the highest point on earth?
The highest mountain in the world is not Mt. Everest. The Earth is not perfectly round, it is like when you roll a piece of silly putty in a ball and squish the top a little bit. Therefore, the equator is popped out. Seeing as how the Himalayas are some ways away from the equator, although Mt. Everest is highest above sea level, the highest point on Earth is somewhere in the Andes in South America
Perhaps the least hospitable place on earth
There is a an island of plastic and trash floating in the Pacific ocean that is twice the size of Texas.
What is the altitude of the sun relative to Earth ?
The altitude of the sun varies throughout the year. On December 21st (sometimes the 22nd) the sun is 20 degrees above the horizon, it's lowest point of the year. On June 21st (sometimes the 20th) the sun is 65 degrees above the horizon, it's highest point of the year.
Do you know what days these are? They are the winter & summer solstice.
How are rainbows made?
Rainbows are a result of the sun's white light being broken up into it's component colors through the prism of a raindrop. This division of white light into its component colors is called Dispersion. The light is often double-reflected on either side of the raindrop before exiting and headed your way.
The color of a light wave see depends on the frequency of the light wave entering your eyes.
This explains why we see the colors of a rainbow, but how come all the colors line up next to each other? Since different frequency light waves bounce and reflect differently meaning that the different colors line up coming at a slightly different angle from each other. (note: the frequency of a wave is the number of cycles of a wave to pass some point in one second. )
What is up with the sun?
The sun is 93,000,000 miles from earth. It takes the suns rays 8 minutes and 20 seconds to reach the earth, traveling at a rate of 186,282 miles per second.
What are the most abundant chemicals in the universe and earth?
Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical in the universe and oxygen is the most abundant chemical element in the earths crust, water and atmosphere.
How fast does rain fall?
A raindrop falls at 600ft. per minute or 7 mph. A raindrop is round but appears to be oval because gravitation pulls on the front of the raindrop as it is falling.
What is the most rainfall ever recorded?
The greatest amount of rainfall ever recorded fell in the amount of 1.5 inches per minute on November 26, 1970 in Barst, Guadeloupe located in the West Indies.
Which takes up more space, water or ice?
Most substances take up less space when frozen than when liquid. Ice from water on the other hand occupies more space than the original liquid water did.
How deep is the ocean?
The deepest area in the ocean is 35,800ft. or 6.78 miles deep. It is located at the Mariana Trench in the Pacific ocean. The average depth of the oceans is 12,500 feet.
Time telling
There are 3 basic ways of telling time. a) rotational : rotation of the earth b) dynamic: motion of the moon and planets c) atomic: oscillation within atoms.
How long is a year?
The exact length of time for the earth to rotate around the sun is 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes and 46 seconds
A day when heavenly bodies align
On July 1, 2015 Earth, Venus and Jupiter will be ordered on a single line.
Fun facts about venus
Venus is the second closest planet to the sun between Earth and Mercury. Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty.
Fun fact about the arctic and Antarctic
The Antarctic (South) is a continent surrounded by ocean while the Arctic (North) is an ocean surrounded by continents.
Where was the hottest air temperature on Earth recorded?
Death Valley in California holds the record for the hottest air temperature ever recorded on Earth: 134°F (56.7°C), measured at Furnace Creek in 1913.
How long is the Great Wall of China?
A 2012 Chinese government survey measured all sections of the Great Wall at about 13,171 miles (21,196 km) combined, which is more than half the Earth's circumference.
What is the most spoken native language in the world?
Mandarin Chinese has more native speakers than any other language on Earth, close to a billion people.
Which places are among the wettest on Earth?
Mawsynram, a village in India's Meghalaya state, is one of the wettest places on Earth, averaging about 11,872 mm (467 inches) of rain a year.
How many active volcanoes does Japan have?
Japan has 111 active volcanoes, roughly 10% of all the active volcanoes on Earth.
How much of the Amazon rainforest is in Brazil?
About 60% of the Amazon rainforest, the largest tropical rainforest on Earth, lies inside Brazil.
What is the largest tropical wetland in the world?
The Pantanal, located mostly in Brazil, is the world's largest tropical wetland and is one of the best places on Earth to see jaguars in the wild.
What is the largest country in the world by area?
Russia is the largest country in the world, covering about 17.1 million square kilometers, more than one-ninth of Earth's land.
Who was the first human in space?
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space on April 12, 1961, orbiting Earth once in about 108 minutes.
What is one of the coldest permanently inhabited places on Earth?
The village of Oymyakon in Siberia is one of the coldest permanently inhabited places on Earth. It recorded a temperature of −67.7°C (−89.9°F) in 1933.
What is the largest cat species in the world?
The tiger is the largest cat species on Earth. Large male Amur (Siberian) tigers can weigh over 600 pounds, which makes them bigger than lions.
What is the largest land animal?
The African savanna elephant is the largest land animal on Earth, and big males can weigh around six tons.
Which animal has the largest brain?
The sperm whale has the largest brain of any animal on Earth, weighing around 17 pounds.
Does a compass point to the North Pole?
A compass points to the magnetic north pole, not the geographic North Pole, and the magnetic pole is slowly drifting toward Siberia.
Has Earth's magnetic field ever flipped?
Earth's magnetic field has flipped many times. The last full reversal happened about 780,000 years ago, when a compass would have pointed south.
What is magnetic declination?
Magnetic declination is the angle between magnetic north and true north, and it varies depending on where you are on Earth.
Can animals sense Earth's magnetic field?
Some animals, including migrating birds and sea turtles, can sense Earth's magnetic field and use it like a built-in compass.
How does a smartphone compass work?
Smartphones have a tiny sensor called a magnetometer that measures Earth's magnetic field to work as a digital compass.
What did Galileo discover with his telescope?
In 1610, Galileo Galilei used his improved telescope to discover four of Jupiter's moons, which supported the idea that not everything orbits Earth.
What is the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth?
Death Valley, California, recorded a temperature of 134°F in 1913, the hottest air temperature ever measured on Earth.
Is Kīlauea an active volcano?
Kīlauea on Hawaii's Big Island is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth.
How isolated are the Hawaiian Islands?
Hawaii is one of the most isolated populated places on Earth.
What town is called the Sweetest Place on Earth?
Hershey, Pennsylvania, is called "the Sweetest Place on Earth."
Where was helium first discovered?
Helium was discovered in the Sun's light in 1868, decades before it was found on Earth.
Why is helium rare on Earth?
Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, but it's rare on Earth because it's so light that it escapes the atmosphere into space.
Where does helium on Earth come from?
Helium on Earth is made by the radioactive decay of elements underground and is collected from natural gas wells. It was first found in US natural gas in Kansas in 1905.
Where do diamonds form?
Most natural diamonds form about 100 miles below Earth's surface under extreme heat and pressure.
How much of the air is oxygen?
About 21% of Earth's air is oxygen.
What is the most abundant element in Earth's crust?
Oxygen is the most abundant element in Earth's crust, making up about 46% of its mass.
What was the Great Oxidation Event?
About 2.4 billion years ago, tiny cyanobacteria began releasing so much oxygen through photosynthesis that it transformed Earth's atmosphere, in what scientists call the Great Oxidation Event.
What is ozone?
Ozone is a molecule made of three oxygen atoms, and the ozone layer protects Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
Where does most of Earth's oxygen come from?
Ocean phytoplankton produce about half of Earth's oxygen.
What is Earth's core made of?
Earth's core is made mostly of iron.
What is the most common element on Earth by mass?
Iron is the most common element on Earth by mass.
How long is uranium-238's half-life?
Uranium-238 has a half-life of about 4.5 billion years, about the age of Earth.
Which classic sci-fi movie used a theremin?
Bernard Herrmann's score for the 1951 sci-fi movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still" famously used the theremin to create an otherworldly sound.
How do sea turtles find their way back to their birth beach?
Female sea turtles often return to nest on the same beach where they hatched, possibly using Earth's magnetic field to navigate.
Did Aristotle know the Earth was round?
Aristotle argued that Earth is round, pointing to its curved shadow on the Moon during lunar eclipses.
Why was Galileo put on trial?
In 1633, Galileo was put on trial by the Catholic Church for supporting the idea that Earth orbits the Sun, and he spent the rest of his life under house arrest.
What did Archimedes say about levers?
Archimedes is said to have claimed that with a long enough lever and a place to stand, he could move the Earth.
How many sunrises do astronauts on the ISS see each day?
The International Space Station orbits Earth about every 90 minutes, so astronauts see about 16 sunrises a day.
Can you see the International Space Station from Earth?
The International Space Station can be seen from Earth with the naked eye.
Did the Three Gorges Dam slow Earth's rotation?
NASA calculated that the water held by the Three Gorges Dam lengthened Earth's day by about 0.06 microseconds.
How long does sunlight take to reach Earth?
Sunlight takes about 8 minutes and 20 seconds to reach Earth, so we always see the Sun as it was a few minutes ago.
What color is the Sun?
The Sun is called a yellow dwarf, but it actually gives off white light. It looks yellow from Earth because of our atmosphere.
Is the Moon moving away from Earth?
The Moon is drifting away from Earth by about 3.8 centimeters a year.
Why do we always see the same side of the Moon?
The Moon is tidally locked to Earth, which means it always shows us the same side.
How did the Moon form?
Scientists think the Moon formed from debris after a Mars-sized object crashed into the young Earth.
How strong is gravity on the Moon?
Gravity on the Moon is about one-sixth as strong as on Earth.
Is a day on Mercury longer than its year?
From sunrise to sunrise, one day on Mercury lasts about 176 Earth days, twice as long as its 88-day year.
What is a transit of Mercury?
A transit of Mercury happens when Mercury passes in front of the Sun as seen from Earth.
Is a day on Venus longer than its year?
A day on Venus, about 243 Earth days, is longer than its year of about 225 Earth days.
How strong is the air pressure on Venus?
The air pressure on the surface of Venus is about 90 times stronger than on Earth.
How long is a year on Mars?
A year on Mars is about 687 Earth days.
Have pieces of Mars landed on Earth?
Meteorites from Mars have been found on Earth.
What is the Great Red Spot?
Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a storm bigger than Earth that has lasted for centuries, though it has been shrinking.
Why did Saturn's rings seem to vanish in 2025?
Saturn's rings appeared to nearly vanish from Earth's view in 2025 because they were tilted edge-on to us.
How long are seasons on Uranus?
Each season on Uranus lasts about 21 Earth years.
When did Neptune complete its first orbit since its discovery?
A year on Neptune is about 165 Earth years, and in 2011 it completed its first orbit since being discovered.
Has Pluto completed an orbit since it was discovered?
Pluto takes about 248 Earth years to orbit the Sun, so it hasn't completed a full orbit since it was discovered.
Is Pluto smaller than the Moon?
Pluto is smaller than Earth's Moon.
Would Earth get sucked in if the Sun became a black hole?
If the Sun were replaced by a black hole of the same mass, Earth's orbit wouldn't change.
Who first measured the size of Earth?
Greek scholar Eratosthenes estimated Earth's circumference around 240 BC with remarkable accuracy.
How strong are MRI magnets?
MRI magnets are thousands of times stronger than Earth's magnetic field.