Earth

For other uses, see the planet.

Earth

Famous "Blue Marble" photograph of the Earth, taken from Apollo 17.
Designations
Adjectives	Terrestrial, Terran, Telluric, Tellurian, Earthly
Symbol
Orbital characteristics
Epoch J2000
Aphelion	152,097,701 km (1.016 710 333 5 AU) 94,509,130 miles
Perihelion	147,098,074 km (0.983 289 891 2 AU) 91,402,725 miles
Semi-major axis	149,597,887.5 km (1.000 000 112 4 AU) 92,956,041 miles
Eccentricity	0.016 710 219
Average orbital speed	29.783 km/s (107,218 km/h)
Inclination	0 (7.25° to Sun's equator)
Longitude of ascending node	348.739 36°
Argument of perihelion	114.207 83°
Known satellites	1 (the Moon)
Physical characteristics
Mean radius	6,372.797 km
Equatorial radius	6,378.137 km
Polar radius	6,356.752 km
Surface area	510,065,600 km²
Volume	1.083 207 3×1012 km³
Mass	5.9736×1024 kg
Mean density	5,515.3 kg/m³
Surface gravity	9.780 1 m/s² (0.997 32 g)
Escape velocity	11.186 km/s (≅39,600 km/h)
Sidereal rotation period	0.997 258 d (23.934 h)
Equatorial rotation velocity	465.11 m/s
Axial tilt	23.439 281°
North pole right ascension	undefined°
North pole declination	+90°
Albedo	0.367
Surface temp. min mean max Kelvin 185 K 287 K 331 K Celsius -88.3 °C 14 °C 57.7 °C
Atmosphere
Surface pressure	101.3 kPa (MSL)
Composition by volume	78.08% N2 20.95% O2 0.93% Argon 0.038% Carbon dioxide Trace water vapor (varies with climate)

Earth (IPA: [ˈɝθ], IPA: [ˈɜːθ]), also referred to as "the Earth", "Planet Earth", "Terra", or "the World", is the third planet from the Sun and is the largest of the terrestrial planets. It is the only planet known to have liquid water on the surface and the only place in the universe known to harbor life. Earth has a magnetic field that, together with a primarily nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, protects the surface from radiation that is harmful to life. The atmosphere also serves as a shield that causes smaller meteors to burn up before they strike the surface.

The Earth was formed around 4.57 billion years ago and its only known natural satellite, the Moon, was orbiting it shortly thereafter, around 4.53 billion years ago. At present the Earth orbits the Sun once for every roughly 365.25 times it rotates about its axis. The axial tilt of 23.4° produces seasonal variations on the surface.

Atmospheric conditions on Earth have been significantly altered by the presence of life forms, which create an ecological balance that modifies the surface conditions. About 71% of the surface is covered in salt-water oceans, and the remainder consists of continents and islands. The outer surface is divided into several tectonic plates that gradually migrate across the surface over geologic time spans. The interior of the planet remains active, with a thick layer of convecting yet solid mantle, a liquid outer core that generates a magnetic field, and a solid-iron inner core.

There is significant interaction between the Earth and its space environment. The relatively large moon provides ocean tides, stabilizes the axial tilt and has gradually modified the length of the planet's rotation period. A cometary bombardment during the early history of the planet is believed to have played a role in the formation of the oceans. Later, asteroid impacts are understood to have caused significant changes to the surface environment. Long term periodic changes in the orbit of the planet may also be responsible for the ice ages that have covered significant portions of the surface in glacial sheets.

History

Main article: History of Earth

Based on the available evidence, current scientists have been able to reconstruct detailed information about the planet's past. Earth formed 4.567 billion years ago out of the solar nebula, along with the Sun and the other planets. Initially molten, the outer layer of the planet cooled to form a solid crust when water began accumulating in the atmosphere. The moon formed soon afterwards, possibly as the result of a Mars-sized object, known as Theia, impacting the Earth in a glancing blow. Most of this object's mass merged with the Earth, nearly doubling the planet's radius.

Outgassing and volcanic activity produced the primordial atmosphere. Condensing water vapor, augmented by ice delivered by comets, produced the oceans. The highly energetic chemistry is believed to have produced a self-replicating molecule around 4 billion years ago, and half a billion years later, the last common ancestor of all life existed.

The development of photosynthesis allowed the sun's energy to be harvested directly by life forms; the resultant oxygen accumulated in the atmosphere and gave rise to the ozone layer. The incorporation of smaller cells within larger ones resulted in the development of complex cells called eukaryotes. True multicellular organisms formed as cells within colonies became increasingly specialized. Aided by the absorption of harmful ultraviolet radiation by the ozone layer, life colonized the surface of Earth.

Over hundreds of millions of years, continents formed and broke up as the surface of Earth continually reshaped itself. The continents have migrated across the surface of the Earth, occasionally combining to form a supercontinent. Roughly 750 million years ago (mya), the earliest known supercontinent Rodinia, began to break apart. The continents later recombined to form Pannotia, 600–540 mya, then finally Pangaea, which broke apart 180 mya.

Since the 1960s, it has been hypothesized that severe glacial action between 750 and 580 mya, during the Neoproterozoic, covered much of the planet in a sheet of ice. This hypothesis has been termed "Snowball Earth", and is of particular interest because it preceded the Cambrian explosion, when multicellular lifeforms began to proliferate.

Following the Cambrian explosion, about 535 mya, there have been five mass extinctions. The last occurred 65 mya, when a meteorite collision probably triggered the extinction of the (non-avian) dinosaurs and other large reptiles, but spared small animals such as mammals, which then resembled shrews. Over the past 65 mya, mammalian life has diversified, and several mya, an African ape-like animal gained the ability to stand upright. This enabled tool use and encouraged communication that provided the nutrition and stimulation needed for a larger brain. The development of agriculture, and then civilization, allowed humans to influence the Earth in a short timespan as no other life form had, affecting both the nature and quantity of other life forms.

The present pattern of ice ages began about 40 mya, then intensified during the Pleistocene about 3 mya. The polar regions have since undergone repeated cycles of glaciation and thaw, repeating every 40–100,000 years. The last ice age ended 10,000 years ago.

Composition and structure

Size comparison of terrestrial planets (left to right): Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

Shape

Main article: Figure of the Earth

The Earth's shape is very close to an oblate spheroid—a rounded shape with a bulge around the equator—although the precise shape (the geoid) varies from this by up to 100 metres (327 ft). The average diameter of the reference spheroid is about 12,742 km. More approximately the distance is 40,000 km/π because the metre was originally defined as 1/10,000,000 of the distance from the equator to the north pole through Paris, France.

The rotation of the Earth creates the equatorial bulge so that the equatorial diameter is 43 km larger than the pole to pole diameter. The largest local deviations in the rocky surface of the Earth are Mount Everest (8,850 m above local sea level) and the Mariana Trench (10,924 m below local sea level). Hence compared to a perfect ellipsoid, the Earth has a tolerance of about one part in about 584, or 0.17%. For comparison, this is less than the 0.22% tolerance allowed in billiard balls. Because of the bulge, the feature farthest from the center of the Earth is actually Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador.

Chemical composition

See also: Abundance of the chemical elements § Abundance of elements on Earth

The mass of the Earth is approximately 5.98 ×10²⁴ kg. It is composed mostly of iron (32.1%), oxygen (30.1%), magnesium (13.9%), aluminum (1.4%), silicon (15.1%), sulfur (2.9%), calcium (1.5%), and nickel (1.8%), with the remaining 1.2% consisting of trace amounts of other elements. Due to mass segregation, the core region is believed to be primarily composed of iron (88.8%), with smaller amounts of nickel (5.8%), sulfur (4.5%), and less than 1% trace elements.

The more common rock constituents of the Earth's crust are nearly all oxides; chlorine, sulfur and fluorine are the only important exceptions to this and their total amount in any rock is usually much less than 1%. F. W. Clarke has calculated that a little more than 47% of the earth's crust consists of oxygen. It occurs principally in combination as oxides, of which the chief are silica, alumina, iron oxides, lime, magnesia, potash and soda. The silica functions principally as an acid, forming silicates, and all the commonest minerals of igneous rocks are of this nature. From a computation based on 1672 analyses of all kinds of rocks, Clarke arrived at the following as the average percentage composition: SiO₂=59.71%, Al₂O₃=15.41%, CaO=4.90%, MgO=4.36%, Na₂O=3.55%, FeO=3.52%, K₂O=2.80%, Fe₂O₃=2.63%, H₂O=1.52%, TiO₂=0.60%, P₂O₅=0.22%. These total 99.22%. All the other constituents occur only in very small quantities.

Internal structure

Main article: Structure of the Earth

Earth cutaway from core to exosphere. Partially to scale

Schematic view of the interior of Earth. 1. continental crust - 2. oceanic crust - 3. upper mantle - 4. lower mantle - 5. outer core - 6. inner core - A: Mohorovičić discontinuity - B: Gutenberg Discontinuity - C: Lehmann discontinuity

The interior of the Earth, like that of the other terrestrial planets, is chemically divided into layers. The Earth has an outer silicate solid crust, a highly viscous mantle, a liquid outer core that is much less viscous than the mantle, and a solid inner core.

The geologic component layers of the Earth are at the following depths below the surface:

Depth		Layer
Kilometres	Miles
0–60	0–37	Lithosphere (locally varies between 5 and 200 km)
0–35	0–22	... Crust (locally varies between 5 and 70 km)
35–60	22–37	... Uppermost part of mantle
35–2890	22–1790	Mantle
100–700	62–435	... Asthenosphere
2890–5100	1790–3160	Outer core
5100–6378	3160–3954	Inner core

The internal heat of the planet is most likely produced by the radioactive decay of potassium-40, uranium-238 and thorium-232 isotopes. All three have half-life decay periods of more than a billion years. At the center of the planet, the temperature may be up to 7,000 K and the pressure could reach 360 GPa.

Tectonic plates

Main article: Plate tectonics

A map pointing out the Earth's major plates.

According to plate tectonics theory currently accepted by the vast majority of scientists working in this area, the outermost part of the Earth's interior is made up of two layers: the lithosphere comprising the crust, and the solidified uppermost part of the mantle. Below the lithosphere lies the asthenosphere, which comprises the inner, viscous part of the mantle. The mantle behaves like a superheated and extremely viscous liquid.

The lithosphere essentially floats on the asthenosphere and is broken up into what are called tectonic plates. These plates move in relation to one another at one of three types of plate boundaries: convergent, divergent, and transform. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur along plate boundaries.

The main plates are:

Plate name	Area (106 km2)	Covering
African Plate	61.3	Africa
Antarctic Plate	60.9	Antarctica
Australian Plate	47.2	Australia
Eurasian Plate	67.8	Asia and Europe
North American Plate	75.9	North America and north-east Siberia
South American Plate	43.6	South America
Pacific Plate	103.3	Pacific Ocean

Notable minor plates include the Indian Plate, the Arabian Plate, the Caribbean Plate, the Nazca Plate and the Scotia Plate. The Australian Plate actually fused with Indian Plate between 50 and 55 million years ago. The fastest-moving plates are the oceanic plates, with the Cocos Plate advancing at a rate of 88 mm/yr and the Pacific Plate moving 80 mm/yr. At the other extreme, the slowest-moving plate is the Eurasian Plate, progressing at a rate of 7 mm/yr.

Present day Earth altimetry and bathymetry. Data from the National Geophysical Data Center's TerrainBase Digital Terrain Model.

Surface

Main articles: Landforms and Extreme points of the world

The Earth's terrain varies greatly from place to place. About 70% of the surface is covered by water, with much of the continental shelf below sea level. If all of the land on Earth were spread evenly, water would rise to an altitude of more than 2500 metres (approximately 8000 ft.). The remaining 30% not covered by water consists of mountains, deserts, plains, plateaus, and other geomorphologies.

The planetary surface undergoes reshaping over geological time periods due to the effects of tectonics and erosion. The surface features built up or deformed through plate tectonics are subject to steady weathering from precipitation, thermal cycles, and chemical effects. Glaciation, coastal erosion, the build-up of coral reefs, and large meteorite impacts also act to reshape the landscape.

The pedosphere is the outermost layer of the Earth that is composed of soil and subject to soil formation processes. It exists at the interface of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. Currently the total arable land is 13.31% of the land surface, with only 4.71% supporting permanent crops. Close to 40% of the Earth's land surface is presently used for cropland and pasture, or an estimated 3.3 × 10⁹ acres of cropland and 8.4 × 10⁹ acres of pastureland.

Elevation histogram of the surface of the Earth—approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered with water.

The elevation of the land surface of the Earth varies from the low point of −417 m at the Dead Sea, to a maximum altitude of 8,844 m (2005 est.) at the top of Mount Everest. The mean height of land above sea level is 686 m.

Hydrosphere

Main article: Hydrosphere

The abundance of water on Earth surface is a unique feature that distinguishes the "Blue Planet" from others in the solar system. Approximately 70.8 percent of the Earth is covered by water and only 29.2 percent is terra firma—solid earth.

The Earth's hydrosphere consists chiefly of the oceans, but technically includes all water surfaces in the world, including inland seas, lakes, rivers, and underground waters down to a depth of 2,000 m. The deepest underwater location is Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean with a depth of −10,924 m. The average depth of the oceans is 3,794 m (12,447 ft), more than five times the average height of the continents. The mass of the oceans is approximately 1.35 × 10¹⁸ tonnes, or about 1/4400 of the total mass of the Earth, and occupies a volume of 1.386 × 10⁹ km³. About 97.5% of the water is saline, while the remaining 2.5% is fresh water. The majority of the fresh water, about 68.7%, is currently in the form of ice.

Atmosphere

Main articles: Earth's atmosphere and Climate

See also: Outer space

The Earth's atmosphere has no definite boundary, slowly becoming thinner and fading into outer space. Three-quarters of the atmosphere's mass is contained within the first 11 km of the planet's surface. This lowest layer is called the troposphere. Further up, the atmosphere is usually divided into the stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere. Beyond these, the exosphere thins out into the magnetosphere (where the Earth's magnetic fields interact with the solar wind). An important part of the atmosphere for life on Earth is the ozone layer, a component of the stratosphere that partially shields the surface from ultraviolet light. The Kármán line, defined as an 100 km (62 miles) above the Earth's surface, is a working definition for the boundary between atmosphere and space.

This view from orbit shows the full moon partially obscured by the Earth's atmosphere. NASA image.

The atmospheric pressure on the surface of the Earth averages 101.325 kPa, with a scale height of about 6 km. It is 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, with trace amounts of water vapor, carbon dioxide and other gaseous molecules. The atmosphere protects the Earth's life forms by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, moderating temperature, transporting water vapor, and providing useful gases.

Due to thermal energy, some of the molecules at the outer edge of the Earth's atmosphere have their velocity increased to the point where they can escape from the planet's gravity. This results in a slow but steady leakage of the atmosphere into space. Because unfixed hydrogen has a low molecular weight, it can achieve escape velocity more readily and it leaks into outer space at a greater rate. For this reason, the Earth's environment is oxidizing, with consequences for the chemical nature of life which developed on the planet.

The atmosphere is one of the principal components in determining weather and climate. Water vapor generated through surface evaporation is transported by circulatory patterns in the atmosphere. When atmospheric conditions permit, this water recondenses and settles to the surface as precipitation. Most of the water is then transported back to lower elevations by river systems, usually returning to the oceans or being deposited into lakes. This water cycle is a vital mechanism for supporting life on land, and is a primary factor in the erosion of surface features over geological periods.

The most prominent features of the Earth's climate are the climate zones, which occur in matching bands of latitude on each side of the equator.

Climate zone	Approximate latitude	Average temperature
Polar region	Poles to polar circles	0°C
Temperate	Polar circles to 40°	8°C
Subtropics	40º to 23.5°	16°C
Tropics	23.5º to equator	24°C

Precipitation patterns vary widely, ranging from several metres of water per year to less than a millimetre. Atmospheric circulation, topological features and temperature differences determine the average precipitation that falls in each region.

Ocean currents are important factors in determining climate, particularly the thermohaline circulation which distributes heat energy from the equatorial oceans to the polar regions.

Magnetic field

Main article: Earth's magnetic field

The Earth's magnetic field is shaped roughly as a magnetic dipole, with the poles currently located proximate to the planet's geographic poles. According to dynamo theory, the field is generated within the molten outer core region where heat creates convection motions of conducting materials, generating electric currents. These in turn produce the Earth's magnetic field. The convection movements in the core are chaotic in nature, and periodically change alignment. This results in a field reversal about once every 700,000 years.

The field forms the magnetosphere, which deflects particles in the solar wind. The bow shock is located about at 13.5 R_E, or Earth radii. The collision between the magnetic field and the solar wind forms the Van Allen radiation belts, a pair of concentric, torus-shaped regions of energetic charged particles. When the plasma enters the Earth's atmosphere at the magnetic poles, it forms the aurora.

Orbit and rotation

File:Rotating earth (small).gif

An animation showing the rotation of the Earth.

It takes the Earth, on average, 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.091 seconds (one sidereal day) to rotate around the axis that connects the north and the south poles. From Earth, the main apparent motion of celestial bodies in the sky (except that of meteors within the atmosphere and low-orbiting satellites) is to the west at a rate of 15 °/h = 15'/min, i.e., an apparent Sun or Moon diameter every two minutes.

Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of about 150 million kilometres (93.2 million miles) every 365.2564 mean solar days (1 sidereal year). From Earth, this gives an apparent movement of the Sun with respect to the stars at a rate of about 1 °/day, i.e., a Sun or Moon diameter every 12 hours, eastward. The orbital speed of the Earth averages about 30 km/s (108,000 km/h), which is enough to cover the planet's diameter (~12,600 km) in seven minutes, and the distance to the Moon (384,000 km) in four hours.

Earth seen as a tiny dot by the Voyager 1 spacecraft, four billion miles from Earth

The Moon revolves with the Earth around a common barycenter, from fixed star to fixed star, every 27.32 days. When combined with the Earth–Moon system's common revolution around the Sun, the period of the synodic month, from new moon to new moon, is 29.53 days. The Hill sphere (gravitational sphere of influence) of the Earth is about 1.5 Gm (930,000 miles) in radius. Viewed from Earth's north pole, the motion of Earth, its moon and their axial rotations are all counterclockwise. The orbital and axial planes are not precisely aligned: Earth's axis is tilted some 23.5 degrees against the Earth–Sun plane (which causes the seasons); and the Earth–Moon plane is tilted about 5 degrees against the Earth-Sun plane (without a tilt, there would be an eclipse every two weeks, alternating between lunar eclipses and solar eclipses).

The axial tilt of the Earth causes the seasons. By astronomical convention, the four seasons are determined by the solstices—the point in the orbit of maximum axial tilt toward or away from the Sun—and the equinoxes, when the tilt is minimized. Winter solstice occurs on about December 21, summer solstice is near June 21, spring equinox is around March 20 and autumnal equinox is about September 23.

In an inertial reference frame, the Earth's axis undergoes a slow precessional motion with a period of some 25,800 years, as well as a nutation with a main period of 18.6 years. These motions are caused by the differential attraction of Sun and Moon on the Earth's equatorial bulge because of its oblateness. In a reference frame attached to the solid body of the Earth, its rotation is also slightly irregular from polar motion. The polar motion is quasi-periodic, containing an annual component and a component with a 14-month period called the Chandler wobble. In addition, the rotational velocity varies, in a phenomenon known as length of day variation.

In modern times, Earth's perihelion occurs around January 3, and the aphelion around July 4. For other eras, see precession and Milankovitch cycles.

Observation

Earth was first photographed from space by Explorer 6 in 1959. The first human to view Earth from space was Yuri Gagarin in 1961. The crew of the Apollo 8 were the first to view an earth-rise from lunar orbit in 1968. In 1972 the crew of the Apollo 17 produced the famous "Blue Marble" photograph of the planet Earth (see top of page). NASA archivist Mike Gentry has speculated that "The Blue Marble" is the most widely distributed image in human history.

Earth and Moon from Mars, imaged by Mars Global Surveyor.

From space, the Earth can be seen to go through phases similar to the phases of the Moon and Venus. This appearance is caused by light that reflects off the Earth as it moves around the Sun. The phases seen depend upon the observer's location in space, and the rate is detemined by their orbital velocity. The phases of the Earth can be simulated by shining light on a globe of the Earth.

A observer on Mars would be able to see the Earth go through phases similar to those that an Earth-bound observer sees the phases of Venus (as discovered be Galileo). It can be shown that an imaginary observer on the Sun would not see the Earth going through phases. The sun observer would only be able to see the lit side of the earth.

Moon

Main article: Moon

Name	Diameter (km)	Mass (kg)	Semi-major axis (km)	Orbital period
Moon	3,474.8	7.349×1022	384,400	27 days, 7 hours, 43.7 minutes

Earthrise as seen from lunar orbit on Apollo 8, 24 December 1968.

The Moon, sometimes called 'Luna', is a relatively large, terrestrial, planet-like satellite, with a diameter about one-quarter of the Earth's. It is the largest moon in the solar system relative to the size of its planet. (Charon is larger relative to dwarf planet Pluto.) The natural satellites orbiting other planets are called "moons", after Earth's Moon.

The gravitational attraction between the Earth and Moon cause tides on Earth. The same effect on the Moon has led to its tidal locking: its rotation period is the same as the time it takes to orbit the Earth. As a result, it always presents the same face to the planet. As the Moon orbits Earth, different parts of its face are illuminated by the Sun, leading to the lunar phases: The dark part of the face is separated from the light part by the solar terminator.

Because of their tidal interaction, the Moon recedes from Earth at the rate of approximately 38 mm a year. Over millions of years, these tiny modifications—and the lengthening of Earth's day by about 17 µs a year—add up to significant changes. During the Devonian period, there were 400 days in a year, with each day lasting 21.8 hours.

The Moon may dramatically affect the development of life by taming the weather. Paleontological evidence and computer simulations show that Earth's axial tilt is stabilized by tidal interactions with the Moon. Some theorists believe that without this stabilization against the torques applied by the Sun and planets to the Earth's equatorial bulge, the rotational axis might be chaotically unstable, as it appears to be for Mars. If Earth's axis of rotation were to approach the plane of the ecliptic, extremely severe weather could result from the resulting extreme seasonal differences. One pole would be pointed directly toward the Sun during summer and directly away during winter. Planetary scientists who have studied the effect claim that this might kill all large animal and higher plant life. However, this is a controversial subject, and further studies of Mars—which shares Earth's rotation period and axial tilt, but not its large moon or liquid core—may settle the matter.

Viewed from Earth, the Moon is just far enough away to have very nearly the same apparent angular size (same solid angle) as the Sun (the Sun is 400 times larger, and the Moon is 400 times closer). This allows total eclipses and annular eclipses to occur on Earth.

The relative sizes of and distance between Earth and Moon, to scale

The most widely accepted theory of the Moon's origin, the giant impact theory, states that it was formed from the collision of a Mars-size protoplanet with the early Earth. This hypothesis explains (among other things) the Moon's relative lack of iron and volatile elements, and the fact that its composition is nearly identical to that of the Earth's crust.

Earth has at least two co-orbital satellites, the asteroids 3753 Cruithne and 2002 AA₂₉.

Habitability

See also: Planetary habitability

Biosphere

Main article: Biosphere

The planet's lifeforms are sometimes said to form a "biosphere". This biosphere is generally believed to have begun evolving about 3.5 billion (3.5 ×10⁹) years ago. Earth is the only place in the universe officially recognized by the communities of Earth where life is absolutely known to exist, and some scientists believe that biospheres might be rare.

The biosphere is divided into a number of biomes, inhabited by broadly similar flora and fauna. On land primarily latitude and height above the sea level separates biomes. Terrestrial biomes lying within the Arctic, Antarctic Circle or in high altitudes are relatively barren of plant and animal life, while most of the more populous biomes lie near the Equator.

Natural resources

Main article: Natural resource

• Earth's crust contains large deposits of fossil fuels: (coal, petroleum, natural gas, methane clathrate). These deposits are used by humans both for energy production and as feedstock for chemical production.
• Mineral ore bodies have been formed in Earth's crust by the action of erosion and plate tectonics. These bodies form concentrated sources for many metals and other useful elements.
• Earth's biosphere produces many useful biological products for humans, including (but far from limited to) food, wood, pharmaceuticals, oxygen, and the recycling of many organic wastes. The land-based ecosystem depends upon topsoil and fresh water, and the oceanic ecosystem depends upon dissolved nutrients washed down from the land.

Some of these resources, such as mineral fuels, are difficult to replenish on a short time scale, called non-renewable resources. The exploitation of non-renewable resources near the surface by human civilization has become a subject of significant controversy in modern environmentalism movements.

Land use

Humans use the Earth's land to support themselves through the production of food, energy, and building material. They also live on the land by building shelters. Human use of land is approximately:

Land use	Percentage
Arable land:	13.13%
Permanent crops:	4.71%
Permanent pastures:	26%
Forests and woodland:	32%
Urban areas:	1.5%
Other:	30% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 2,481,250 km² (1993 est.)

Natural and environmental hazards

Large areas are subject to extreme weather such as (tropical cyclones), hurricanes, or typhoons that dominate life in those areas. Many places are subject to earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, sinkholes, blizzards, floods, droughts, and other calamities and disasters.

Many localized areas are subject to human-made pollution of the air and water, acid rain and toxic substances, loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, species extinction, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion, and introduction of invasive species. Human activities are also producing long-term climate alteration due to industrial carbon dioxide emissions. This is expected to produce changes such as the melting of glaciers and Arctic ice, more extreme temperatures, significant changes in weather conditions and a global rise in average sea levels.

Human geography

Main article: Human geography

Antarctica

Oceania

Africa

Asia

Europe

North
America

South
America

Pacific
Ocean

Pacific
Ocean

Atlantic
Ocean

Indian
Ocean

Southern Ocean

Arctic Ocean

West
Asia

Caribbean

Central
Asia

East Asia

North Asia

South
Asia

Southeast
Asia

SW.
Asia

Australasia

Melanesia

Micronesia

Polynesia

Central
America

Latin
America

Northern
America

Americas

C.
Africa

E.
Africa

H.
Africa

N.
Africa

Southern
Africa

W.
Africa

C.
Europe

E.
Europe

N.
Europe

S.
Europe

W.
Europe

Earth has approximately 6,600,000,000 human inhabitants.

Projections indicate that the world's human population will reach seven billion in 2013 and 9.1 billion in 2050 (2005 UN estimates). Most of the growth is expected to take place in developing nations. Human population density varies widely around the world.

It is estimated that only one eighth of the surface of the Earth is suitable for humans to live on — three-quarters is covered by oceans, and half of the land area is desert, high mountains or other unsuitable terrain.

The northernmost permanent settlement in the world is Alert, on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada. (82°28′N) The southernmost is the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, in Antarctica, almost exactly at the South Pole. (90°S)

The Earth at night, a composite of DMSP/OLS ground illumination data on a simulated night-time image of the world. This image is not photographic and many features are brighter than they would appear to a direct observer.

There are 267 administrative divisions, including nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries. Earth does not have a sovereign government with planet-wide authority. Independent sovereign nations claim all of the land surface except for some segments of Antarctica. There is a worldwide general international organization, the United Nations. The United Nations is primarily an international discussion forum with only limited ability to pass and enforce laws.

In total, about 400 people have been outside the Earth's atmosphere as of 2004, and of these, twelve have walked on the Moon. Most of the time the only humans in space are those on the International Space Station, currently three people who are usually replaced every 6 months. See human spaceflight.

Human viewpoint

The first time an "Earth-rise" was seen from the moon.

Earth has often been personified as a deity, in particular a goddess (see Gaia and Mother Earth). The Chinese Earth goddess Hou-Tu is similar to Gaia, the deification of the Earth. As the patroness of fertility, her element is Earth. In Norse mythology, the Earth goddess Jord was the mother of Thor and the daughter of Annar. Ancient Egyptian mythology is different from that of other cultures because Earth is male, Geb, and sky is female, Nut (goddess).

Although commonly thought to be a sphere, the Earth is actually an oblate spheroid. It bulges slightly at the equator and is slightly flattened at the poles. In the past there were varying levels of belief in a flat Earth, but ancient Greek philosophers and, in the Middle Ages, thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas believed that it was spherical. A 19th-century organization called the Flat Earth Society advocated the even-then discredited idea that the Earth was actually disc-shaped, with the North Pole at its center and a 150 foot (50 m) high wall of ice at the outer edge. It and similar organizations continued to promote this idea, based on religious beliefs and conspiracy theories, through the 1970s. Today, the subject is more frequently treated tongue-in-cheek or with mockery.

Prior to the introduction of space flight, these inaccurate beliefs were countered with deductions based on observations of the secondary effects of the Earth's shape and parallels drawn with the shape of other planets. Cartography, the study and practice of map making, and vicariously geography, have historically been the disciplines devoted to depicting the Earth. Surveying, the determination of locations and distances, to a lesser extent navigation, the determination of position and direction, have developed alongside cartography and geography, providing and suitably quantifying the requisite information.

The technological developments of the latter half of the 20th century are widely considered to have altered the public's perception of the Earth. Before space flight, the popular image of Earth was of a green world. Science fiction artist Frank R. Paul provided perhaps the first image of a cloudless blue planet (with sharply defined land masses) on the back cover of the July 1940 issue of Amazing Stories, a common depiction for several decades thereafter. Apollo 17's 1972 "Blue Marble" photograph of Earth from cislunar space became the current iconic image of the planet as a marble of cloud-swirled blue ocean broken by green-brown continents. A photo taken of a distant Earth by Voyager 1 in 1990 inspired Carl Sagan to describe the planet as a "Pale Blue Dot." Earth has also been described as a massive spaceship, with a life support system that requires maintenance, or as having a biosphere that forms one large organism.

See also: Spaceship Earth and Gaia theory

Future

Artist's conception of the remains of artificial structures on the Earth after the Sun enters its red giant phase and swells to roughly 100 times its current size.

Comparison between the red supergiant Antares and the Sun. The black circle is the size of the orbit of Mars. Arcturus is also included in the picture for comparison

The future of the planet is closely tied to that of the Sun. The luminosity of the Sun will continue to steadily increase, growing from the current luminosity by 10% in 1.1 billion years (1.1 Gyr) and up to 40% in 3.5 Gyr. Climate models indicate that the increase in radiation reaching the Earth is likely to have dire consequences, including possible loss of the oceans.

The Sun, as part of its solar lifespan, will expand to a red giant in 5 Gyr. Models predict that the Sun will expand out to about 99% of the distance to the Earth's present orbit (1 astronomical unit, or AU). However, by that time, the orbit of the Earth may have expanded to about 1.7 AUs because of the diminished mass of the Sun. The planet might thus escape envelopment.

The increased heat will accelerate the inorganic CO₂ cycle, reducing its concentration to the lethal dose for plants (10 ppm for C4 photosynthesis) in 900 million years. But even if the Sun were eternal and stable, the continued internal cooling of the Earth would have resulted in a loss of much of its atmosphere and oceans (due to lower volcanism). More specifically, for Earth's oceans, the lower temperatures in the crust will permit their water to leak more deeply than today (at certain depth the water is evaporating). After a billion years the oceans will have completely disappeared.

References

• NASA's Earth fact sheet
• Discovering the Essential Universe (Second Edition) by Neil F. Comins (2001)
• space.about.com - Earth - Pictures and Astronomy Facts

External links

• WikiSatellite view of Earth at WikiMapia
• USGS Geomagnetism Program
• Template:PDFlink
• NASA Earth Observatory
• The size of Earth compared with other planets/stars
• Beautiful Views of Planet Earth Pictures of Earth from space
• Flash Earth A Flash-based viewer for satellite and aerial imagery of the Earth
• Java 3D Earth's Globe
• Projectshum.org's Earth fact file (for younger folk)
• Geody Earth World's search engine that supports Google Earth, NASA World Wind, Celestia, GPS, and other applications.
• Planet Earth From AOL Research & Learn: Photos, quizzes and info about Earth's climate, creatures and science.
• Earth From Space Some Photos From the Exhibit