Proper nounSingular Earth Plural - Earth
Quotations
SynonymsFrom Wiktionary under the GNU Free Documentation License. Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in terms of diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World, Blue Planet, and Terra. Home to millions of species, including humans, Earth is the only place in the universe where life is known to exist. The planet formed 4.54 billion years ago, and life appeared on its surface within a billion years. Since then, Earth's biosphere has significantly altered the atmosphere and other abiotic conditions on the planet, enabling the proliferation of aerobic organisms as well as the formation of the ozone layer which, together with Earth's magnetic field, blocks harmful radiation, permitting life on land. The physical properties of the Earth, as well as its geological history and orbit, allowed life to persist during this period. The world is expected to continue supporting life for another 1.5 billion years, after which the rising luminosity of the Sun will eliminate the biosphere. Earth's outer surface is divided into several rigid segments, or tectonic plates, that gradually migrate across the surface over periods of many millions of years. About 71% of the surface is covered with salt-water oceans, the remainder consisting of continents and islands; liquid water, necessary for all known life, is not known to exist on any other planet's surface. Earth's interior remains active, with a thick layer of relatively solid mantle, a liquid outer core that generates a magnetic field, and a solid iron inner core. Earth interacts with other objects in outer space, including the Sun and the Moon. At present, Earth orbits the Sun once for every roughly 366.26 times it rotates about its axis. This length of time is a sidereal year, which is equal to 365.26 solar days. The Earth's axis of rotation is tilted 23.4° away from the perpendicular to its orbital plane, producing seasonal variations on the planet's surface with a period of one tropical year (365.24 solar days). Earth's only known natural satellite, the Moon, which began orbiting it about 4.53 billion years ago, provides ocean tides, stabilizes the axial tilt and gradually slows the planet's rotation. Between approximately 4.1 and 3.8 billion years ago, asteroid impacts during the Late Heavy Bombardment caused significant changes to the surface environment. Both the mineral resources of the planet, as well as the products of the biosphere, contribute resources that are used to support a global human population. The inhabitants are grouped into about 200 independent sovereign states, which interact through diplomacy, travel, trade and military action. Human cultures have developed many views of the planet, including personification as a deity, a belief in a flat Earth or in Earth being the center of the universe, and a modern perspective of the world as an integrated environment that requires stewardship. From Wikipedia under the
GNU Free Documentation License How come the Earth is going through a period of decreased volcanic activity and meteorite activity? Q. How come the Earth is going through a period of decreased volcanic activity and meteorite activity? I am not saying that there is no volcanoes,just a decreased in occurence to what we have seen in the Earths past. Asked by ASK A.S. - Mon Mar 24 03:10:22 2008 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments A. We are going through a relative period of volcanic quietude, because at our present geological age, there are more oceanic plate boundaries, and less continental ones. This will change in future (several million yearst time) . We are going through a period of decreasing meteorite activity simply because there are less interplanetary bodies available to collide with planets. In past geological ages (billions of years ago), after the formation of the planets, there was a lot of debris still scattered around that collided with the planets. (Most of the craters we see on the moon are from such ancient times). Now there is less debrie left, and much of the interplanetary material has settled into stable orbits (eg, the asteroid belt… [cont.] Answered by AndrewG - Mon Mar 24 09:45:35 2008 What exactly is the function of mountains on Earth, or any other planet for that matter? Q. I know mountains originate out of eruptions, earthquakes, major dislocations in the earth's surface etc. But do mountains have any special purpose? Do they actually prevent the Earth from ''shaking'' or do they act as earthquake magnets? Details would be highly appreciated. Thanks. Asked by Muhammed Asif - Tue Jun 2 02:19:21 2009 - - 6 Answers - 0 Comments A. A purpose. A purpose? I am not a fan of looking at things as though they are all designed with an end, a purpose, in mind. A purpose implies it was created by someone to fill a need, or perhaps just plain for fun. And science cannot give any answer in that direction. Science can only tell us what it is, what it does, how it becomes and what it maybe will become, but it cannot tell us if there is a why to it all. Mountains certainly do not act as earthquake "magnets" or prevent some sort of earthly wobble (if anything they would add to wobble). The most important role of mountains is in the recycling of materials - they provide a "new" source of sediments and inorganic nutrients. They are the primary source of rock material… [cont.] Answered by bustersmycat - Tue Jun 2 07:28:36 2009 What will happen to the earth when the sun turns into a brown giant?
Q. Given that the sun's size will increase, though not its mass, would the earth maintain its current orbital path, be sucked up by the sun, or would it move farther away? Would the sun evaporate the earth's water? Would the process be swift once the main sequence is ended, or gradual over hundreds of millions of years? PS I am also aware that the sun has billions of years of life left in her yet! Asked by Emasculated Britain - Fri Feb 20 20:53:42 2009 - - 10 Answers - 0 Comments A. Well the Sun will never become a 'brown giant', but what you described is the Sun becoming a red giant. Yes, the Earth will broil. It will be a slow process over hundreds of millions of years. Will the Earth itself crash into the Sun? That's open for debate. Many say the the mass loss of the Sun while it expands into a red giant will allow the Earth orbit to expand. Others contend that that same mass loss will create a drag on the Earth and it will be consumed by the Sun. I guess we ll have to wait around another 5 billion years to find out for sure. Answered by Electronherdsman - Fri Feb 20 21:12:04 2009 From Yahoo Answer Search: "Earth"  news.google.com Register The robot steamers are envisaged as being equipped with powerful articulated arms in order to rip trees or bushes out of the earth and stuff them into their ... and more » news.google.com FOXNews Long before mammals, birds and dinosaurs roamed the Earth , the first four-legged creatures made their first steps onto land, and quickly inhabited a wide ... and more » news.google.com Wicked Local Middleborough A large earth removal project on Tispaquin Street has been granted a one-year extension by selectmen, providing the owner follows a new ... and more » From Google News Search: "Earth"  bergoiata.org 768px x 1024px | 217.30kB [source page] Earth Rise Above The Moon Surface 1600 jpg Taille 1600x1200 Earth Africa jpg Taille 1024x768  ruggedelegantliving.com 302px x 320px | 21.00kB [source page] and collaboration tool for local information You can even import site plans property lists and client sites And you can easily share the address with your client or co worker An Image from Google Earth Pro Currently Google offers a 7 day free trial on Google Earth Pro All I can say is I m glad I m a Mac Person  24x7updates.com 168px x 250px | 12.30kB [source page] Microsoft is going to unveil Windows Live Local a local search and mapping service powered by Virtual Earth in a few hours Rather than relying on satellites to capture images from the sky a la Google Earth Microsoft s new service is using low flying airplanes to capture its images Microsoft says it From Yahoo Image Search: "Earth"  angelinamia.com angelina Sun, 10 May 2009 05:13:00 GM Life On . Earth. . I went to brunch at the Cliff House today, for the novelty of it. But my stupid camera broke last night so I only have cameraphone pictures. They are barely worth sharing. For instance, there was a girl sitting on the ...  elartedecompartir.blogspot.com abelaumann hu, 09 Jul 2009 17:05:00 GM Manfred Mann's . Earth. Band - - - Solar Fire DESCARGA. Publicado por abelaumann a las 2:05:00 PM. Etiquetas: manfred mann'S . EARTH. BAND. 0 comentarios: Publicar un comentario en la entrada Entrada mas reciente Entradas antiguas Pagina ...  earth-stream.com unknown hu, 09 Jul 2009 22:12:17 GM LA Times: President Obama praised efforts by industrialized and developing nations to set guidelines in the battle to control climate change and said today that the United States will increase its role in that fight. From Google Blog Search: "Earth" Earth is the third planet from the Sun and is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System, in both diameter and mass. Home to myriad species including humans, it is also referred to as "the Earth", "Planet Earth", "Gaia", "Terra", and "the World". Quotes
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