Our Little Blue Planet

The Earth is an incredible planet, and it’s something that we often don’t fully realise. The fact that the Earth exists is a complete miracle beyond our comprehension – that it sits at the perfect distance from the sun to support life; that it contained water to start with, and enough heat to allow life to initially grow.

The Earth is also unique in that it’s the only planet that we know of that supports life. In terms of statistics, we should have encountered signs of alien life by now, but the cosmos remains silent as ever, and scientists can’t figure out why.

We share our galaxy with 100 billion other planets, and yet we still haven’t found even basic life on any other planet we’ve come across – making Earth truly like nothing else.

In today’s world, a world full of just about everything you can think of, from pristine forests to entire cities dedicated to casinos and online slots Canada, we need to stop every now and again and appreciate this satellite that we call home.

These are some facts about the Earth that prove what a miracle she is.

• The Earth constantly orbits the sun, meaning that it’s always in a state of rotation. The equator is where the highest velocity of this rotation sits – coming in at 1609 km per hour. If you were to stand at either of the poles, however, the rotational speed would sit at zero.
• Our orbit means that we’re moving around the sun in a massive circle, and that enough is enough to leave us in awe. What’s truly mind-boggling, however, is the fact that we’re shooting around on this orbit at approximately 107826 km per hour.
• All the landmass on the planet is actually the result of long-term recycling. Volcanic activity underneath the surface of the Earth is constantly pushing up new pieces of land, while others are slowly swallowed and remade.
• Heat is a big player in the world, and the record for the hottest place on earth belongs to place called El Azizia, found in Libya. The record temperature sits at 57.8 degrees Celsius.
• Conversely, the coldest place in the earth is located at Antarctica’s Vostok station, with a record low of minus 89.2 degrees Celsius.
• Antarctica also contains almost all the fresh water on the planet – around 70 per cent, all locked in ice.
• Volcanoes dot the world from the tallest mountain ranges to the depths of the earth, and while most are dormant, some are still going strongest. The most active volcano right now on the planet is the Stromboli Volcano, located in southern Italy.
• Gold, a metal that humankind has always revered, has begun running out in many major gold mines around the world. The irony is that most of the hold in the world is in the ocean – about 13 billionths of a gram per litre of seawater. This may not seem like a lot at first, but when added together it makes around 20 million tons of solid gold.

There are endless more mind-blowing facts about the Earth, but these are some of the most interesting.