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<\/a>If you\u2019re not sure, you probably did!\u00a0 It was two Thursdays ago, April 22nd<\/sup>.\u00a0 With everything else going on in our world today, don\u2019t beat yourself up if you missed it.\u00a0 But in an effort to \u2018keep you informed\u2019, as we here at From a Bird\u2019s Eye View<\/em>, are committed to doing, I\u2019ll provide you with a brief history of celebrating the day we honor our planet (hang in there, it will get more interesting . . . maybe!).\u00a0 Inspired by students in the anti-war movement, former Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson<\/strong> and others helped to organize the first Earth Day<\/strong> on April 22, 1970<\/strong>.\u00a0 It inspired about 20 million Americans<\/strong> to come out and demonstrate against the impacts of industrial development on our environment. OK, brief enough.<\/p>\nIf you forgot to celebrate, worry not; you\u2019ve probably already been doing your part by staying home this past year and thus lowering your total carbon emissions. Good for you!<\/p>\n
While listening to the Darren Hardy\u2019s \u2018Darren Daily\u2019<\/em><\/strong> episode on Earth Day<\/strong>, I learned a few interesting facts about our \u2018Mother Earth\u2019<\/strong> and thought I\u2019d share them with you.<\/p>\n What\u2019s in a name?\u00a0 <\/strong>How did we get the name \u2018Earth\u2019?\u00a0 While all the other planets are named after Greek<\/strong> or Roman<\/strong> gods, we get our name from both English and German words, \u2018ertha\u2019 and erde\u2019 which means \u2018ground\u2019<\/strong>.\u00a0 Pretty sexy, huh?<\/p>\n Flat Earth<\/p><\/div>\n Earth flat?\u00a0 <\/strong>We all know that the earth isn\u2019t flat, right?\u00a0 Ok, there is the \u2018Flat Earth Society\u2019<\/strong> that believes evidence to the contrary is fabricated by NASA and those \u2018Round Earth Conspiracy\u2019 theorists.\u00a0 But the earth is not round either, it\u2019s oval, like a squished ball \u2013 fatter at the equator.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s tallest? <\/strong>That aforementioned \u2018squished ball\u2019 visual, begs the question, what is the tallest mountain in the world?\u00a0 You\u2019re thinking Everest<\/strong>, right?\u00a0 But, depending on how you measure, there could be two other answers.\u00a0 Everest is the tallest, 29,033 ft from sea level<\/em>, but, if you\u2019re looking for the mountain that is furthest from the earth\u2019s center and thus closest to the moon and stars, it would be a mountain in Ecuador, Mt. Chimborazo<\/strong> \u2013 it\u2019s right on the earth\u2019s bulging equator.\u00a0 However, if you\u2019re measuring from the ocean floor instead of sea level, it\u2019s Hawaii\u2019s Mauna Kea<\/strong>, which measures 33,496 feet from the ocean floor to its summit – told you it would get more interesting!<\/p>\n What?! We\u2019re not the Center of the Universe!\u00a0 <\/strong>When asked who was the first to discover that the sun, not the earth was the center of our solar system, you\u2019d probably respond with the name of that Polish astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus<\/strong>, who published his work in 1543<\/strong>.\u00a0 But you\u2019d be wrong.\u00a0 Did you say, Aristarchus of Samos<\/strong>, the Greek astronomer and mathematician, for his discovery around 270 B.C<\/strong>.?\u00a0 Nope, but he was influenced by the first to proffer the idea that the earth was not the center of the universe, Philolaus<\/strong>, another Greek philosopher who lived around 400 B.C<\/strong>. and was the first credited with originating heliocentrism,<\/strong> the theory that the Earth was not the center of the Universe – much less the center of our solar system.<\/p>\n Mt. Chimborazo<\/p><\/div>\n How old is earth? <\/strong>The earth is approximately 4.54 billion years old<\/strong> \u2013 don\u2019t ask me who was counting or when earth\u2019s birthday is, but just to put our existence<\/em> on this planet in perspective, let\u2019s assume that the 4.54 billion years was converted to a 24-hour day.\u00a0 Homo sapiens (that\u2019s us) would have been on the earth for . . . wait for it . . . 4 seconds!<\/strong><\/p>\n How fast are we going?\u00a0 <\/strong>The earth is hurling through space at a speed of 66,000 miles per hou<\/strong>r as we travel around the sun.\u00a0 It is also spinning at a rate of 1,040 miles per hour<\/strong>.\u00a0 Dizzy yet?\u00a0 Thanks to a thing called gravity<\/strong>, we don\u2019t fly off into space.<\/p>\n Land & Sea <\/strong>One-third of the earth is desert \u2013 the largest desert?\u00a0 Nope, it\u2019s Antarctica<\/strong>, it gets only about 2 inches of precipitation per year.\u00a0 Seventy percent of the earth is made up of water, but only 3% of that is fresh water.<\/p>\n Got a light?\u00a0 <\/strong>Lightning strikes on earth about 100 times . . . per second!\u00a0 That\u2019s about 8,600,000 per day<\/p>\n Earth’s largest desert – Antarctica<\/p><\/div>\n Free Fall: <\/strong>If a large hole was drilled through the center of the earth, it would take about 46 minutes<\/strong> to free fall from one end to the other.\u00a0 You\u2019d need a pretty good \u2018fire-suit\u2019 as temperature in the middle of the earth is about the same temperature as the sun\u2019s surface \u2013 10,000 degrees<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Who Owns the Most Real Estate on Earth? <\/strong>\u00a0Not Bezos,<\/strong> not Musk<\/strong>, not Zuckerberg<\/strong>, Not Buffett <\/strong>(Warren or Jimmy), not Gates<\/strong>, not some Saudi prince, but . . . Queen Elizabeth<\/strong> \u2013 she is the \u2018legal\u2019 owner of 1\/6 of the earth\u2019s land surface.<\/p>\n Happy belated Earth Day!\u00a0 Yeah, we’re too late for this year\u2019s gala celebration of Earth Day, but you\u2019ll be ready to wow them next year!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow If you\u2019re not sure, you probably did!\u00a0 It was two Thursdays ago, April 22nd.\u00a0 With everything else going on in our world today, don\u2019t beat yourself up if you missed it.\u00a0 But in an effort to \u2018keep … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Flat-Earth.jpg\")
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