10 Weird Facts About Planet Earth
Published in Entertainment at May 2nd, 2017 at 5:24 AM
10 Weird facts about planet earth. It also includes the facts about earths twin planet Theia
Highest Point in the World
Due to contrary belief, A lot of people thing that Mount Everest is the tallest point in the entire world. Well it is the tallest mountain as it comes in at 29,035 ft. above sea level. However, considering we now know that the Earth is not round as we have previously stated, anything that goes across the equator is likely to be higher.
This makes Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador a higher point in the world than Mount Everest, even though it’s height is 20,564 ft. above sea level. The reason it’s classed as a higher point in the world is because it’s placement is on one of the earth’s bumps giving it a height advantage of 1.5 miles.
90% of the ocean is unexplored
So it has been stated that we have only scratched the tip of the surface when it comes to knowing more about our own planet. “How so” you might ask? Well we have barely swept the vast depths of our own oceans. In fact, less than 10% of the deep blue seas have been explored. The ocean contains 97% of our water and 99% of the living area.
While we have identified over 200,000 marine species, there are possibly 25 million more that we have NOT discovered. Maybe the film sharktopus is based on a real species!
The Earth is Not Round
Don’t worry, this isn’t another “The Earth is flat argument”. No the Earth is without a doubt a sphere, but due to its gravitational forces it is not a perfect circle.
In fact, there is a bulge around the equator because of this. The Earth's Polar radius is 3,949.99 miles, while its Equatorial radius is 3,963.34 miles.
Hottest and Coldest Temperatures Recorded
While the coldest place on Earth is Antarctica with its temperature coming in at a staggering -100 Degrees Fahrenheit,
the coldest spot was recorded in July of 1983 was at Vostok Station in Antarctica, where sensors recorded –128.6 degrees F.
And for comparison, The hottest spot was recorded in September of 1922 in Libya, With the temperature being recorded at a blistering 136 degrees fahrenheit.
The Moon’s Almost Perfect Orbit
So besides the fact that it’s NOT made of cheese (I know, Shocking) there are some things we don't know. One thing being that the lunar center is 6,000 feet closer to the Earth, which should cause its orbit to be more wobbly/erratic, however it is almost perfectly circular.
It's quite a coincidence that the Sun happens to be both 400 times bigger than the Moon and also 400 times farther away from Earth, making them appear the same size in the sky. Soon enough, people are going to start making conspiracy theories out of this!
There’s NOT 24 hours in a day
You’ve probably said to yourself one time or another that there’s not enough hours in the day. Well you’re right because there isn’t even 24 hours in a day.
That's right, the actual time it takes the planet to rotate on its axis is 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds. I’d be annoyed too if i lost out on 4 minutes of sleep!
Earth Twin Planet
Scientists and researchers now believe that at one point in time, weren’t alone when orbiting the Sun. It is reported that we had a “twin” planet we call Theia, which was the size of Mars and was 60 degrees either in front or behind our planet.
About 4.5 billion years ago, Theia crashed into the Earth; most of the planet was absorbed, but a larger portions were blown off and merged with material from our planet to create the Moon.
Earth is the only planet with Plate Tectonics
Scientists believe the Earth is made up of 7 major plates of “crust,” which move in different directions up to 4 inches each year. When they crash into each other, it is said that mountains are created. As they are created, they pull apart creating valleys. On the downside however, This also causes earthquakes and volcanos to erupt.
Researchers have confirmed that the Antarctica contains most of the earth’s fresh water as it hold about 70% of it and around 90% of that is frozen.
The Name Comes from the Anglo Saxons
Every other planet in our solar system is named after a Greek or Roman God. Like Mars would derive from the Roman God of War and Pluto the ruler of the underworld to name a few examples. All planets except our planet. The word Earth comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Erda, which means “ground” or “soil” and is thought to be 1,000 years old.