Earth Day 2016 takes place on 22nd April. As part
of Earth Day 2016, we have compiled a list of interesting facts about our
planet:
The Earth is unlike every other planet in the Solar System
in a number of different ways.
·
It is the only planet that has an
atmosphere containing 21 percent oxygen.
·
It is the only planet that has liquid
water on its surface.
·
It is the only planet in the solar
system that has life.
·
The Earth is the only inner planet (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) to have one
large satellite, the Moon.
Mars has two very tiny moons. Mercury and Venus have none.
·
The Earth is the third planet from
the Sun and comes between the planet Venus and the planet Mars.
·
The Earth takes 365¼ days to complete
its orbit round the Sun. The Earth’s year is therefore 365 days long but
the ¼ days are added up and every fourth year has one extra day, on the 29th of
February. This fourth year is called a Leap Year (366 days) and is always
a year which can be divided exactly by 4 – 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016
·
There are currently almost
7 billion people living on the Earth. About 30% of the Earth's surface is
covered with land, while about 70% is covered by oceans
