8 Interesting facts about EARTH

Earth is a squashed sphere 

the Earth's rotation creates an outward force that is highest at the equator and zero at the poles. since the Earth is not perfectly solid throughout, this force results in the Earth being 'squashed' into a slightly flattened sphere.

The effect is quite small. the diameter at the poles is about 12.714km and at the equator is about 12.756km; hence the amount of flattening (or 'oblateness') is only about 0.3 percent. however, this equatorial bulge (42km) is about twice the distance from the top of Mount Everest to the deepest part of the ocean.

how Earth is old 

Earth scientists use radiometric dating, index fossils, and other clues. they have determined that Earth is 4.5 billion years old. the planet is the same age a the rest of the solar system.

World's smallest mammal

Kitti's hog-nosed bat (craseonycteris thonglongyai) is debatably the world's smallest mammal and most definitely the world's smallest bat.

Kitti's hog-nosed bat is about 29 to 33 mm in length

The coldest place in Earth

Eastern antarctic plateau, Antarctica (The Coldest Place)

The Eastern antarctic plateau claims the title of the coldest place on earth. between 2004 and 2016,

satellite data collected across dome argues and dome fuji, an area around the size of Australia, suggest that air temperatures could be around -94 °C. this would be the coldest temperature on Earth, but researchers think that the dry air around the area, it could cause the temperature to get even colder.

The Hottest place in Earth

Death valley, California, USA   (The Hottest Place) 

The aptly named furnace creek currently holds the record for hottest air temperature ever recorded. The desert valley reached highs of 56.7C in the summer of 1913. which would apparently push the limits of human survival. There is debate over the validity of this temperature, but even if proved false Furnace Creek still comes top: a temperature of 54.4C was recorded in august 2020. Average temperature highs today reach 47C during summer.

The magnetic pole creeps 

Earth has a magnetic field because of the ocean of hot, liquid metal that sloshes around its solid iron core, or that's what geophysicists are pretty certain is the cause.

 this flow of liquid creates electric currents, which, in turn, generate the magnetic field. since the early 19th century, Earth's magnetic north pole has been creeping northward b more than 600 miles (1,100 kilometers), according to NASA scientists.

the rate of movement has increased, with the pole migrating northward at about 40 miles (64 km) per year currently, compared with the 10 miles (16 km) per year estimated in the 20th century.

We're losing fresh Water

Water demand globally is projected to increase by 55% between 2000 and 2050. Much of the demand is driven by agriculture, which accounts for 70% of global freshwater use, and food production will need to grow by 69% by 2035 to feed the growing population. Water withdrawal for energy, used for cooling power stations, is also expected to increase by over 20%. In other words, the near future presents one big freshwater drain after the next.

What’s more? Right now, according to a Nasa-led study, many of the world’s freshwater sources are being drained faster than they are being replenished.

Glaciers are melting fast

Most of Earth's glaciers are melting faster than ever because of human-caused climate change, dumping about 328 billion tons of melted ice into the world's oceans each year, according to a new study.

In fact, what was once considered to be permanent ice has declined in volume almost everywhere around the globe, the study found.

Half the world’s glacial loss is coming from the United States and Canada, the study said. 

Alaska’s melt rates are “among the highest on the planet,” with the Columbia glacier retreating about 115 feet a year, said study lead author Romain Hugonnet, a glaciologist at the University of Toulouse in France. 

The estimates were based on high resolution 3D mapping of more than 200,000 glaciers, which is nearly all the glaciers on Earth. The analysis is the most comprehensive and accurate of its kind to date