When we talk about life, there are three primary entities that come to mind: earth, water and air. These three components play a very crucial role in the existence of life on earth. What most people do not know is that the earth is nothing more than an extremely complex chemical factory. The earth consists of oceans, seas, lakes and rivers and the atmosphere. There is also a large solid layer of ionized silicate rock that has been carved out by the sun over millions of years.
Earth is the fourth planet in the solar system and the only celestial body known to host and support living organisms. It is the home of all creatures, which number more than two hundred billion including us. Approximately 29.2% of Earth is covered with land making it a diverse planet in terms of vegetation and climatic conditions. Because of the sheer diversity of habitats on earth, there are many places that scientists have pinpointed the location and composition of different species.
The earth orbit is the plane that connects the earth with its moon, sun and space satellites. It can take about 365 days for the earth to complete one orbit. The innermost planet, Jupiter, is considered to be the largest planet in our solar system along with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The earth orbit is also known as the orbital plane and is what most planetary scientists refer to when they mention an “orbit”. There are two known major planes that the earth moves around in; the oblong plane and the flat plane.
The earth’s atmosphere is composed of a mix of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapor and traces of other gases such as sulfur dioxide. Some scientists believe that there may be as much as ten atmospheres (atoms) inside the earth’s atmosphere at any given time. This is because some of the gases that are produced by the earth’s volcanoes are trapped inside the earth’s atmosphere. The remaining portion of the atmosphere is made up of lighter gasses such as oxygen and is known as the upper atmosphere.
The earth’s surface is covered with a variety of material. It varies from rock to rock, soil to soil, and even grass to grass. In fact, there are almost no visible features on the earth’s surface. Although the majority of the earth is land, there is an ocean covering most of the planet. This oceanic layer is known as the oceanic crust.
Astronomy is a big part of the earth’s history. Many ancient cultures such as the Egyptians, Aztecs and Mayans focused their religion and their spirituality around the earth. They built their monuments and temples to honor the planet and to give praise to the deities. Today’s modern man often takes for granted the outer space that surrounds the earth, but the truth is that the earth holds so much of importance that it is difficult to explain away by modern science.
