Interesting Facts about Earth / World

About 400 billion gallons water is used worldwide each day.

From a distance, Earth would be the brightest of the 9 planets. This is because sunlight is reflected by the planet's water.

The moon is one million times drier than the Gobi Desert.

Earth travels through space at 66,700 miles per hour.

The Persian Gulf is the warmest sea. In the summer its temperature reaches 35.6 degrees centigrade. Louisiana loses about 30 square miles (78 square kilometers) of land each year to coastal erosion, hurricanes, other natural and human causes and a thing called subsidence, which means sinking. Only 3% water of the earth is fresh, rest 97% salted. Of that 3%, over 2% is frozen in ice sheets and glaciers. Means less than 1% fresh water is found in lakes, rivers and underground. Sunlight can penetrate clean ocean water to a depth of 240 feet. The word "Arctic" comes from the ancient Greek Arktikos, or "country of the great bear." Though the Greeks had no knowledge of the polar bear, they named the region after the constellation Ursus Major, the Great Bear, found in the Northern Sky. The total surface area of the Earth is 197 million square miles. About 540 volcanoes on land are known. No one knows how many undersea volcanoes have erupted through history. Asia Continent is covered 30% of the total earth land area, but represent 60% of the world's population. In 1934, a gust of wind reached 371 km/h on Mount Washington in New Hampshire, USA. The world's deadliest recorded earthquake occurred in 1557 in central China, more than 830,000 people were killed. The deepest depth in the ocean is 36,198 feet (6.9 miles or 11 kilometers) at the Mariana Trench, in the Pacific Ocean well south of Japan near the Mariana Islands. Groundwater comprises a 30 times greater volume than all freshwater lakes, and more than 3,000 times what's in the world's streams and rivers at any given time. Earth's atmosphere is actually about 80 percent nitrogen. Most of the rest is oxygen, with tiny amounts of other stuff thrown in. Earth is tipped at 23 and 1/2 degrees in orbit. That axis is what causes our seasons. Each Wonder (in 7 wonders) has its own intrigue. Historian agree that the Pyramids stood the test of time, the Lighthouse is the only Wonder that has a practical secular use, and the Temple of Artemis was the most beautiful of all Wonders. The greatest tide change on earth occurs in the Bay of Fundy. The difference between low tide and high tide can be as great as 54 ft. 6 in. (16.6 meters). Angel Falls in Venezuela is the worlds highest waterfall, The water of Falls drops 3,212 feet (979 meters). The Arctic stays black and fiercely cold for months on end. In the High Arctic, the sun sets in October and does not rise again until late February. The deepest hole ever made by humans is in Kola Peninsula in Russia, was completed in 1989, creating a hole 12,262 meters (7.6 miles) deep. The industrial complex of Cubatao in Brazil is known as the Valley of Death because its pollution has destroyed the trees and rivers nearby. The people who live on Tristan da Cunha are over 2,000km (about 1,300 miles) from their nearest neighbours on the island of St. Helena. That's nearly as far as Moscow is from London. Each winter there are about 1 septillion (1, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 or a trillion trillion) snow crystals that drop from the sky. Life began in the seas 3.1 billion to 3.4 billion years ago. Land dwellers appeared 400 million years ago, a relatively recent point in the geologic time line. The temperature of Earth increases about 36 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) for every kilometer (about 0.62 miles) you go down. One-tenth of the Earth's surface is always under the cover of ice. And almost 90 per cent of that ice is to be found in the continent of Antarctica. The age of the earth is Loudly proclaimed by the scientific establishment of evolution believers and the mass media as being around 4.6 billion years old. The hottest planet in the solar system is Venus, with an estimated surface temperature of 864 F (462 C). The sunrays reached at the earth in 8 minutes & 3 seconds. The Angel Falls in Venezuela is the world's highest waterfall (979 meters / 3212 ft.), three times the size of the Eiffel Tower. The gravity on Mars is 38% of that found on Earth. So a 100 pounds person on Earth would weigh 38 pounds on Mars. The Earth is the densest major body in the solar system. Earth's oceans are an average of 2 Miles deep Average 100 lightning strikes occur worldwide every second. Monaco is the Highest Density Country of the world, 16,205 people per square k.m. live in Monaco. At least 1,000 million grams, or roughly 1,000 tons of material (dust) enters the atmosphere every year and makes its way to Earths surface. The Peregrine Falcon around 200mph (320 km/h) is the fastest bird on the planet, the top speed recorded is 242.3mph (390 km/h). In 1783 an Icelandic eruption threw up enough dust to temporarily block out the sun over Europe. The blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus, is the largest known animal ever to have lived on sea or land. Individuals can reach more than 110 feet and weigh nearly 200 tons, more than the weight of 50 adult elephants. The water that falls on a single acre of land during one inch of rainfall, it would weigh 113 tons that is 226,000 pounds. The largest recorded snowflake was 15in wide and 8in thick. It fell in Montana in 1887. Rain has never been recorded in some parts of the Atacama Desert in Chile. A 1960 Chilean earthquake was the strongest earthquake in recent times, which occurred off the coast, had a magnitude of 9.6 and broke a fault more than 1000 miles (1600 kilometers) long. Only 11 percent of the earth's surface is used to grow food. The flower with the world's largest bloom is the Rafflesia arnoldii. This rare flower is found in the rainforests of Indonesia. It can grow to be 3 feet across and weigh up to 15 pounds. A huge underground river runs underneath the Nile, with six times more water than the river above. Antarctica is the highest, driest, and coldest continent on Earth. Lake Bosumtwi in Ghana formed in a hollow made by a meteorite. American Roy Sullivan has been struck by lighting a record seven times. Total fertility rate of the world is 2.59 children born/woman. Niger is 7.46 (highest), India is 2.73, US is 2.09 & Hong Kong is 0.95 only (Lowest). Tibet is the highest country in the world. Its average height above sea level is 4500 meters. Baikal Lake in Russian Fed. is the deepest lake (5315 ft) in the world. Nearly 70 percent of the Earth's fresh-water supply is locked up in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland. The remaining fresh-water supply exists in the atmosphere, streams, lakes, or groundwater and accounts for a mere 1 percent of the Earth's total. The Pacific Ocean has an average depth of 2.4 miles (3.9 kilometers). The largest eggs in the world are laid by a shark. The most dangerous animal in the world is the common housefly. Because of their habits of visiting animal waste, they transmit more diseases than any other animal. There is no land at all at the North Pole, only ice on top of sea. The Arctic Ocean has about 12 million sq km of floating ice and has the coldest winter temperature of -34 degrees centigrade. Continents are typically defined as landmasses made of low-density rock that essentially floats on the molten material below. Greenland fits this description. The distance from the surface of Earth to the center is about 3,963 miles (6,378 kilometers). Lake Baikal is about 20 million years old and contains 20 percent of Earth's fresh liquid water. The highest temperature produced in a laboratory was 920,000,000 F (511,000,000 C) at the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor in Princeton, NJ, USA. The oceans contain 99 percent of the living space on the planet. The coldest temperature ever measured on Earth was -129 Fahrenheit (-89 Celsius) at Vostok, Antarctica, on July 21, 1983. Lloro, Colombia is the wettest place on Earth, averages 523.6 inches of rainfall a year, or more than 40 feet (13 meters). That's about 10 times more than fairly wet major cities in Europe or the United States. Chile (Africa) is the driest place on Earth, gets just 0.03 inches (0.76 millimeters) of rain per year. The Antarctic ice sheet is 3-4 km thick, covers 13 million sq km and has temperatures as low as -70 degrees centigrade. El Azizia in Libya recorded a temperature of 136 degrees Fahrenheit (57.8 Celsius) on Sept. 13, 1922 - the hottest ever measured. The world's windiest place is Commonwealth Bay, Antartica with winds regularly exceeding 150 miles per hour. The origin of the word "volcano" is derives from Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. The top three countries have the greatest number of historically active volcanoes are Indonesia, Japan, and the United States in descending order of activity. The Sahara Desert in northern Africa is more than 23 times the size of southern California's Mojave Desert. Earth is referred to as the BLUE PLANET. Because from space, the oceans combined with our atmosphere make our planet look blue. The lowest dry point on earth is the Dead Sea in the Middle East is about 1300 feet (400 meters) below sea level. Blue whales are found throughout the world's oceans, the lifespan is estimated to be 80 years & population is between 1300 & 2000 only, its dangerously low. The Skylab astronauts grew 1.5 - 2.25 inches (3.8 - 5.7 centimeters) due to spinal lengthening and straightening as a result of zero gravity. The total water supply of the world is 326 million cubic miles (1 cubic mile of water equals more than 1 trillion gallons). Australia, (7,617.930 sq km) is widely considered part of a continental landmass, not officially an island. But without doubt it is the largest island on the planet, and when combined with Oceania, the smallest continent on Earth. There are between 100,000,000,000 and 1,000,000,000,000 stars in a normal galaxy. Scientists estimate that more than three-quarters of Earth's surface is of volcanic origin, that is, rocks either erupted by volcanoes or molten rock. In January and February, the average temperature in the high Arctic is -29 F. The warmest sea in the world is the Red Sea, where temperatures range from 68 degrees to 87.8 degrees F depending upon which part you measure. The Sarawak Chamber in Malaysia is the largest cave in the world is 2300 feet (701 meters) long, 1300 feet (400 meters) wide, and more than 230 feet (70 meters) high. The temperature of Earth near the center, its thought to be at least 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit (3,870 Celsius). Most earthquakes are triggered less than 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the surface of the Earth. Some of the oldest mountains in the world are the Highlands in Scotland . They are estimated to be about 400 million years old. Mars days are 24 hours and 37 minutes long, compared to 23 hours, 56 minutes on Earth. About one-third surface of the Earth's land is desert. The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean, covers 64 million square miles (165 million square kilometers). It is more than two times the size of the Atlantic. The fastest 'regular' wind that's widely agreed upon was 231 mph (372 kph), recorded at Mount Washington, New Hampshire, on April 12, 1934. The eruption of Tambora volcano is the world's deadliest Volcano in Indonesia in 1815 is estimated to have killed 90,000 people. The largest meteorite crater in the world is in Winslow, Arizona. It is 4,150 feet across and 150 feet deep. The Largest Ocean of the World is the Pacific Ocean (155,557,000 sq km), It covers nearly one-third of the Earth's surface. Luxembourg is the richest country of the world, the gross national product (GNP) of Luxembourg is $45,360. Water-meal or Wolffia globosa is the smallest flower in the world, its contains some 38 species of the smallest and simplest flowering plants. The EARTH has over 1,200,000 species of animals, 300,000 species of plants & 100,000 other species. The Antarctic Ice Sheet holds nearly 90 percent of the world's ice and 70 percent of its fresh water. If the entire ice sheet were to melt, sea level would rise by nearly 220 feet. Tremendous erosion at the base of Niagara Falls (USA) undermines the shale cliffs and as a result the falls have receded approximately 7 miles over the last 10,000 years. Lake Mead is the largest man-made lake and reservoir in the United States. Formed by water impounded by Hoover Dam, it extends 110 mi (180 km) behind the dam, holding approximately 28.5 million acre feet (35 km³) of water. The dormant volcano Mauna Kea (on the Big Island of Hawaii) could be considered the tallest mountain in the world. If you measure it from its base in the Hawaiian Trough (3,300 fathoms deep) to its summit of 13,796 feet, it reaches a height of 33,476 feet. Total fertility rate of the world is 2.59 children born/woman. Of the more than 600 million school-age children in the developing world, 120 million primary school-age children are not in school, 53 percent are girls. About 70% of the world's fresh water is stored as glacial ice. About 20 to 30 volcanoes erupt each year, mostly under the sea. Shanghai, China is the largest city by population (13.3 million) in the world. United Arab Emirates is only the country where death rate 2.11/1000 (deaths/1,000 population) is lowest (2009 est.) in the world. The Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf are connected by the Hormuz Strait. The World's largest hot desert is the Sahara in North Africa, at over 9,000,000 km, it is almost as large as the United States. The White Sea, in Russia, has the lowest temperature, only -2 degrees centigrade. English is the second most spoken language (Native speakers 512 million) & the first is Chinese Mandarin (more then 1 billion speakers). The red planet "Mars" takes 687 Earth-days to go around the Sun, compared to 365 days for Earth. The coldest seas are found near the poles such as the Greenland, Barents, Beaufort, Kara, Laptev & East Siberian Seas found near the north pole & Weddell & Ross Seas found in the south poles. The Baltic Sea is also considered one of the coldest seas. The world's largest island is Greenland, it covers 840,000 square miles (2,176,000 square kilometers). The saltiest sea in the world is the Red Sea with 41 parts of salt per 1,000 parts of water. Laika (dog) became the world's first space traveler. Russian scientists sent the small animal aloft in an artificial earth satellite in 1957. Coniferous forest belt supplies most of the world's requirement of newsprint. Mars has two satellites, Phobos and Deimos. The Earth has only one natural satellite, but it's the Moon. Caspian Sea, Asia-Europe is the major lake (371,000 sq km) in the world. Earth is the only planet on which water can exist in liquid form on the surface. Birth Rate of Hong Kong is the lowest (7.29/1000) & Niger is highest (50.73/1000). The Nile River in Africa is the longest river (6,825 kilometers) of the earth. Global Positioning System (GPS) is the only system today that can show your exact position on the Earth anytime, in any weather, no matter where you are! The Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii is the largest volcanoon on Earth. It rises more than 50,000 feet (9.5 miles or 15.2 kilometers) above its base, which sits under the surface of the sea. Mount Everest 8850 meter (29035 ft) Nepal/China is the tallest mountain. Northern Mariana Islands is only the country where death rate (2.29/1000) is lowest in the world.

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