Learn 10 amazing facts about the Earth this Earth Day
10 Earth facts
- Earth isn’t actually round
- Coral reefs are Earth’s largest living structure
- Earth has a squishy interior
- Antarctica is home to the largest ice sheet on Earth
- The Moon is drifting away from Earth
- Atacama is the driest place on Earth
- Earth’s magnetic pole is creeping westward
- Europe is the second smallest continent in size but the third largest in population
- Tibetan plateau is Earth’s ‘third pole’
- Trees are breathers
1. Earth isn’t actually round
While this sounds like an elaborate joke, we’re actually serious. Earth isn’t flat, but it’s not perfectly round either. Earth’s rotation causes the planet to bulge at the equator and flatten at the poles, while the distribution of mass on Earth (which is not perfectly uniform) causes small variations in the gravitational pull at different locations on the planet. These variations are too small to be seen in pictures of Earth from space, so it appears round to the human eye.
2. Coral reefs are Earth’s largest living structure
Coral reefs are not only beautiful natural wonders, but also the largest living structure on Earth. These underwater ecosystems are made up of colonies of tiny animals called coral polyps, which build calcium carbonate skeletons that accumulate over time and form the complex structures we know as coral reefs.
Coral reefs are incredibly diverse and play a vital role in the ocean ecosystem, providing habitat and protection for many species, and acting as a natural barrier that helps to protect coastlines from storms and erosion.
Unfortunately, coral reefs are under threat from a range of environmental factors, including ocean acidification, rising temperatures and global warming. ESA research has shown how our ocean waters have become more acidic over the last three decades and how this is having a detrimental effect on marine life. By using satellite technology to measure ocean colour, temperature and salinity, scientists can track changes in ocean chemistry and detect areas where acidification is occurring.
Rising temperatures can also have a direct impact on coral reefs, causing coral bleaching, which occurs when corals expel the algae that live in their tissues and provide them with food. Coral bleaching can lead to the death of the coral, which can have knock-on effects on the wider ecosystem.