EartH

#REDIRECT Earth

Earth

Earth, also known as the Earth or Terra, is the third planet outward from the Sun. It is the largest of the solar system's terrestrial planets, and the only planetary body that modern science confirms as harboring life. The planet Age of the Earth around 4.57 billion (4.57×10⁹) years ago and shortly thereafter acquired its single natural satellite, the Moon. Its dominant Sentience is the human (''Homo sapiens sapiens''). Its symbol consists of a circled cross, representing a meridian and the equator; a variant puts the cross atop the circle (Unicode: ⊕ or ♁). == Physical characteristics == === Shape === The Earth is approximately a slightly oblate spheroid, with an average diameter of approximately 12,742 km. The maximum deviations from this are the highest point on Earth (the summit of Mount Everest, which is only 8,850 m) and the lowest (the bottom of the Mariana Trench, at 10,911 m below sea level). Thus the Earth is an oblate spheroid within a tolerance (engineering) of one part in about 584, or 0.17 %. The mass of the Earth is approximately 6,000 yottagrams (6 x 10²⁴ kg). === Structure === The interior of Earth, like that of the other terrestrial planets, is chemically divided into an outer silicon solid Crust (geology), a highly viscous Mantle (geology), a liquid outer core that is much less viscous than the mantle, and a solid inner core. The liquid outer core gives rise to a weak magnetosphere due to the convection of its electrically conductive material. New material constantly finds its way to the surface through volcanoes and cracks in the ocean floors (see seafloor spreading). Much of Earth's crust is less than 100 million (1×10⁸) years old; the very oldest parts of the crust are as much as 4.4 billion (4.4×10⁹) years old [http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/14earthwater/]. Taken as a whole, the Earth's composition by mass [http://earthref.org/cgi-bin/er.cgi?s=erda.cgi?n=547] is:

{|cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 |iron:||align="right"|34||.1||% |- |oxygen:||align="right"|28||.2||% |- |silicon:||align="right"|17||.2||% |- |magnesium:||align="right"|15||.9||% |- |nickel:||align="right"|1||.6||% |- |calcium:||align="right"|1||.6||% |- |aluminium:||align="right"|1||.5||% |- |sulfur:||align="right"|0||.70||% |- |sodium:||align="right"|0||.25||% |- |titanium:||align="right"|0||.071||% |- |potassium:||align="right"|0||.019 ||% |- |other elements: ||align="right"|0||.53||% |}

===Interior === ====Interior heat==== The interior of Earth reaches temperatures of 5270 kelvins. The planet's internal heat was originally generated during its accretion (see gravitational binding energy), and since then additional heat has continued to be generated by the decay of radioactive elements such as uranium, thorium, and potassium. The heat flow from the interior to the surface is only 1/20,000 as great as the energy received from the Sun. ====Structure==== Earth's composition (by depth below surface): *0 to 60 km - Lithosphere (locally varies 5-200 km) **0 to 35 km - Crust (locally varies 5-70 km) *35 to 2890 km - Mantle **100 to 700 km - Asthenosphere *2890 to 5100 km - Outer Core *5100 to 6378 km - Inner Core ===The core=== The average density of Earth is 5515 kilogram/metre, making it the densest planet in the Solar system. Since the average density of surface material is only around 3000 kg/m³, we must conclude that denser materials exist within the core of the Earth. In its earliest stages, about 4.5 billion (4.5×10⁹) years ago, melting would have caused denser substances to sink towards the center in a process called planetary differentiation, while less dense materials would have migrated to the crust. As a result, the core is largely composed of iron (80%), along with nickel and silicon; while other dense elements, such as lead and uranium, are either too rare to be significant or tend to bind to lighter elements and thus remain in the crust (see: felsic). The core is divided into two parts, a solid inner core with a radius of ~1250 km and a liquid outer core extending beyond it to a radius of ~3500 km. The inner core is generally believed to be solid and composed primarily of iron and some nickel. Some have argued that the inner core may be in the form of a single iron crystal. The outer core surrounds the inner core and is believed to be composed of liquid iron mixed with liquid nickel and trace amounts of lighter elements. It is generally believed that convection in the outer core, combined with stirring caused by the Earth's rotation (see: Coriolis forces), gives rise to the Earth's magnetic field through a process described by the dynamo theory. The solid inner core is too hot to hold a permanent magnetic field (see: Curie temperature) but probably acts to stabilise the magnetic field generated by the liquid outer core. Recent evidence has suggested that the inner core of Earth may rotate slightly faster than the rest of the planet, by ~2� per year (''Neil F. Comins DEU-p.82''). ===Mantle=== Earth's mantle extends to a depth of 2890 km. The pressure, at the bottom of the mantle, is ~140 Gpascal (1.4 Matmospheric pressure). It is largely composed of substances rich in iron and magnesium. The melting point of a substance depends on the pressure it is under. As there is intense and increasing pressure as one travels deeper into the mantle, the lower part of this region is thought solid while the upper mantle is plasticity (physics) (semi-molten). The viscosity of the upper mantle ranges between 10²¹ and 10²⁴ pascal second, depending on depth [http://www2.uni-jena.de/chemie/geowiss/geodyn/poster2.html]. Thus, the upper mantle can only flow very slowly. Why is the inner core thought solid, the outer core thought liquid, and the mantle solid/plastic? The melting points of iron-rich substances are higher than pure iron. The core is composed almost entirely of pure iron, while iron rich substances are more common outside the core. So, surface iron-substances are solid, upper mantle iron-substances are semi-molten (as it is hot and they are under relatively little pressure), lower mantle iron-substances are solid (as they are under tremendous pressure), outer core pure iron is liquid as it has a very low melting point (despite enormous pressure), and the inner core is solid due to the overwhelming pressure found at the center of the planet. ===Crust=== The crust ranges from 5 to 70 km in depth. The thin parts are oceanic crust composed of dense (mafic) iron magnesium silicate Rock (geology)s and underlie the ocean basins. The thicker crust is continental crust which is less dense and composed of (felsic) sodium potassium aluminium silicate rocks. The crust-mantle boundary occurs as two physically different events. Firstly, there is a discontinuity in the seismic wave velocity which is known as the Mohorovicic discontinuity or Moho. The cause of the Moho is thought to be a change in rock composition from rocks containing feldspar (above) to rocks that contain no feldspars (below). The second event is a chemistry discontinuity between ultramafic cumulates and tectonized Peridotites which has been observed from deep parts of the oceanic crust that have been obduction into the continental crust and preseved as ophiolites. === Biosphere === Earth is the only place where life is known to exist. The planet's lifeforms are sometimes said to form a "biosphere". This biosphere is generally believed to have begun evolution about 3.5 billion (3.5×10⁹) years ago. The biosphere is divided into a number of biomes, inhabited by broadly similar flora (plants) and fauna (animals). On land, biomes are separated primarily by latitude. Terrestrial biomes lying within the Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circles are relatively barren of plant and animal life, while most of the more populous biomes lie near the Equator. === Atmosphere === Earth has a relatively thick Earth atmosphere composed of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% argon, plus traces of other gases including carbon dioxide and water (molecule) vapor. The atmosphere acts as a buffer between Earth and the Sun. The Earth's atmospheric composition is unstable and is maintained by the biosphere. Namely, the large amount of free diatomic oxygen is maintained through solar energy by the Earth's plants, and without the plants supplying it, the oxygen in the atmosphere will over geological timescales combine with material from the surface of the Earth. Free oxygen in the atmosphere is a signature of life. The layers, troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and the exosphere, vary around the globe and in response to seasonal changes. The total mass of the atmosphere is about 5.1 × 10¹⁸ kg, ca. 0.9 Parts per million of the Earth's total mass. ===Hydrosphere=== [[Image:Earth_satellite_plane.jpg|thumb|300px|right|A plate carr�e projection of a composite satellite image of Earth]] Earth is the only planet in our solar system whose surface has liquid water (molecule). Water covers 71% of Earth's surface (97% of it being sea water and 3% fresh water [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Water/]) and divides it into five oceans and seven continents. Earth's orbit, vulcanism, gravity, greenhouse effect, magnetic field and oxygen-rich atmosphere seem to combine to make Earth a water planet. Earth is actually beyond the outer edge of the orbits which would be warm enough to form liquid water. Without some form of a greenhouse effect, Earth's water would freeze. Paleontology evidence indicates that at one point after blue-green bacteria (Cyanobacteria) had colonized the oceans, the greenhouse effect failed, and Earth's oceans may have completely frozen over for 10 to 100 million years in what is called a snowball Earth event. On other planets, such as Venus (planet), gaseous water is destroyed (cracked) by solar ultraviolet radiation, and the hydrogen is ionized and blown away by the solar wind. This effect is slow, but inexorable. This is one hypothesis explaining why Venus has no water. Without hydrogen, the oxygen interacts with the surface and is bound up in solid minerals. In the Earth's atmosphere, a tenuous layer of ozone within the stratosphere absorbs most of this energetic ultraviolet radiation high in the atmosphere, reducing the cracking effect. The ozone, too, can only be produced in an atmosphere with a large amount of free diatomic oxygen, and so also is dependent on the biosphere (plants). The magnetosphere also shields the ionosphere from direct scouring by the solar wind. Finally, volcano continuously emits water vapor from the interior. Earth's plate tectonics recycle carbon and water as limestone rocks are subduction into the mantle and volcanically released as gaseous carbon dioxide and steam. It is estimated that the minerals in the mantle may contain as much as 10 times the water as in all of the current oceans, though most of this trapped water will never be released. The total mass of the hydrosphere is about 1.4 × 10²¹ kg, ca. 0.023 % of the Earth's total mass. == Earth in the Solar System == It takes Earth 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.091 seconds (sidereal day) to rotate around the axis connecting the north pole and the south pole. Thus from Earth the main apparent motion of celestial bodies in the sky (except meteors which are within the atmosphere and low orbiting satellites) is the movement to the west at a rate of 15 °/h = 15'/min, i.e. a Sun or Moon diameter every two minutes. Earth orbits the Sun every 365.2564 mean solar days (sidereal year). Thus from Earth this gives an apparent movement of the Sun with respect to the stars at a rate of ca. 1 °/day, i.e. a Sun or Moon diameter every 12 hours eastward. The orbital speed of the Earth averages about 30 km/s, which is enough to cover one Earth diameter (~12,700 km) in 7 minutes, and one distance to the Moon (384,000 km) in 4 hours. Earth has one natural satellite, the Moon, which orbits around Earth every month. Thus from Earth this gives an apparent movement of the Moon with respect to the Sun and the stars at a rate of roughly 12 °/day, i.e. a Moon diameter every hour eastward. 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 axial tilt 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 (otherwise there would be an eclipse every month). The Hill sphere (sphere of influence) of the Earth is about 1.5 Gm (930 thousand miles) in radius, within which one natural satellite (the Moon) comfortably orbits. 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 equatorial bulge due to the Earth's oblateness. In a reference frame attached to the solid body of the Earth, its rotation is also slightly irregular due to polar motion. The polar motion is quasi-periodic, containing an annual component and a component with a 14 month period called the Chandler wobble. Also the rotational velocity varies, a phenomenon known as Day variation. === The Moon === {| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" !style="background:#efefef;"|Name !style="background:#efefef;"|Diameter (km) !style="background:#efefef;"|Mass (kg) !style="background:#efefef;"|Semi-major axis (km) !style="background:#efefef;"|Orbital period |- |Moon |align="center"|3,474.8 |7.349 × 10²² |align="center"|384,400 |27 Days, 7 hours, 43.7 minutes |} Luna, or simply 'the Moon', is a relatively large terrestrial planet-like satellite, about one quarter of Earth's diameter. The natural satellites orbiting other planets are called "moons", after Earth's Moon. The gravitational attraction between the Earth and Moon cause the 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 phase: the dark part of the face is separated from the light part by the terminator (solar). The Moon may enable life by moderating the weather. Paleontological evidence and computer simulations show that Earth's axial tilt is stabilised by tidal interactions with the Moon. Without this stabilization against the torques applied by the Sun and planets to the Earth's equatorial bulge, some theorists believe that the rotational axis might be chaotically unstable, as it appears to be with Mars (planet). If Earth's axis of rotation were to approach the ecliptic, extremely severe weather could result as this would make seaonal differences extreme. One pole would be pointed directly toward the Sun during ''summer'' and directly away during ''winter''. Planetary science who have studied the effect claim that this might kill all large animal and higher plant life. This remains a controversial subject, however, and further studies of Mars —which shares Earth's sidereal day and axial tilt, but not its large moon or liquid core— may provide additional information. The Moon is just far enough away to have, when seen from Earth, very nearly the same apparent angular size as the Sun (the Sun is 400 times larger, but the Moon is 400 times closer). This allows total eclipses as well as annular eclipses to occur on Earth. Here is a diagram showing the relative sizes of the Earth and the Moon and the distance between the two (click to enlarge): The Moon's origin is unknown, but one popular hypothesis states that it was formed from the collision of a Mars-sized protoplanet with the early Earth. This hypothesis explains (among other things) the Moon's relative lack of iron and volatile elements. See Giant impact theory. Earth also has at least one known co-orbital asteroid, 3753 Cruithne. == Geography == :Image:Physical_world.jpg)_(:Image:World-map-2004-cia-factbook-large-2m.jpg">Image:Physical_world.jpg|thumb|333px|right|Physical map of the Earth (:Image:Physical_world.jpg) (:Image:World-map-2004-cia-factbook-large-2m.jpg Map references: Time Zones, Coordinates. Biggest geographic subdivision Continents, Oceans Area: *''total:'' 1 E14 m2 square kilometre *''land:'' 148.94 million km² *''water:'' 361.132 million km² *''note:'' 70.8 % of the world's surface is covered by water, 29.2 % is exposed land Land boundaries: the land boundaries in the world total 251,480 km (not counting shared boundaries twice) Coastline: 356,000 km Maritime claims: see United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea *''contiguous zone:'' 24 nautical mile (44.4 km) claimed by most, but can vary *''continental shelf:'' 200 m depth claimed by most or to depth of exploitation; others claim 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) or to the edge of the continental margin *''exclusive fishing zone:'' 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) claimed by most, but can vary *''exclusive economic zone:'' 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) claimed by most, but can vary *''territorial sea:'' 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) claimed by most, but can vary *''Note:'' boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) * 43 nations and other areas are completely landlocked (see list of landlocked) == Climate == Two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates. precipitation (meteorology) patterns vary widely, ranging from several metres of water per year to less than a millimetre. == Terrain == Elevation extremes: (measured relative to sea level) *Lowest point on land: Dead Sea 1 E2 m m *Lowest point overall: Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean 1 E4 m m [http://www.rain.org/ocean/ocean-studies-challenger-deep-mariana-trench.html] *Highest point: Mount Everest 1 E3 m m (1999 est.) == Natural resources == *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 ore bodies form concentrated sources for many metals and other useful chemical elements. *Earth's biosphere produces many useful biological products, 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 fossil fuels, are difficult to replenish on a short time scale, called non-renewable resources. The exploitation of non-renewable resources by human civilization has become a subject of significant controversy in modern environmentalism movements. == Land use == *''arable land:'' 10 % *''permanent crops:'' 1 % *''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, volcano, tornadoes, sinkholes, floods, droughts, and other calamities and disasters. Large areas are subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters such as pollution of the air and water, acid rain and toxic substances, loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, species extinction, soils retrogression and degradation, soil depletion, erosion, and introduction of invasive species. Long term climate global warming due to enhancement of the greenhouse effect by human industrial carbon dioxide emissions is an increasing concern, the focus of intense study and debate. == Human population == On February 25, 2005 the United Nations Population Division issued revised estimates and projected that the world's population will reach 7 billion by 2013 and swell to 9.1 billion in 2050. Most of the growth is expected to take place in developing nations. Nearly all humans currently reside on Earth: 6,411,000,000 inhabitants (January 5 2005 est.) Two humans are presently in orbit around Earth on board the International Space Station. The station crew is replaced with new personnel every six months. During the exchange there are more, and sometimes others are also space flight. In total, about 400 astronaut have been outside Earth (in space) as of 2004. Most of them have reported a heightened understanding of its value and importance, reverence for human life and amazement at its beauty, not usually achieved by those living on the surface. See also space colonization.
The northernmost settlement in the world is Alert, Nunavut, Ellesmere Island, Canada. The southernmost is the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, in Antarctica, almost exactly at the South Pole. Age structure: *''0 to 14 years:'' 1,819,000,000 (29.9 %) **''male:'' 932,800,000 (15.4 %) **''female:'' 886,000,000 (14.6 %) *''15 to 64 years:'' 3,841,000,000 (63.2 %) **''male:'' 1,942,000,000 (32.0 %) **''female:'' 1,898,000,000 (31.2 %) *''65 years and over:'' 419,100,000 (6.9 %) **''male:'' 184,100,000 (3.0 %) **''female:'' 235,000,000 (3.9 %) (2000 est.) Population growth rate: 1.14% (2004 est.); 73 mln/year (200,000/day); 1 in 32,000 per day Birth rate: 22 births/1,000 population (2000 est.); 140 mln/year; 1 in 17,000 per day Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.); 60 mln/year; 1 in 41,000 per day Sex ratio: *''at birth:'' 1.05 male(s)/female *''under 15 years:'' 1.05 male(s)/female *''15 to 64 years:'' 1.02 male(s)/female *''65 years and over:'' 0.78 male(s)/female *''total population:'' 1.01 male(s)/female (2000 est.) Infant mortality rate: 54 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.) Life expectancy at birth: *''total population:'' 64 years *''male:'' 62 years *''female:'' 65 years (2000 est.) Total fertility rate: 2.8 children born/woman (2000 est.) === Government === Earth does not have a sovereign government with planetwide authority. Independent sovereign nation claim all of the land surface except 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 international laws. Administrative divisions: 267 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries == Descriptions of Earth == Earth has often been personified as a deity, in particular a goddess. See Gaia (mythology) and Mother Earth. The chinese earth goddess Hu-Tu, is similar to gaia, the deification of the earth. The patroness of fertility, element is earth. In Norse mythology, the earth goddess Jord was the mother of Thor and the daughter of Annar. Earth has also been described as a massive spaceship, with a life support system that requires maintenance. See Spaceship Earth. Since Earth is rather large, it is not immediately obvious to the naked eye viewing from the surface that it is an oblate spheroid, bulging slightly at the equator and slightly flattened at the poles. In the past there were varying levels of belief in a flat Earth because of this. Prior to the introduction of space flight, this belief was countered with deductions based on observations of the secondary effects of the earth's shape and parallels drawn with the shape of other planets. A photo taken of Earth by Voyager 1 inspired Carl Sagan to describe the planet as a "Pale Blue Dot". In science fiction, Earth is frequently the capital or a major administrative center of a hypothetical galactic government (especially when that galactic government is postulated to be human-dominated), often a representative federal republic, though empires and dictatorships are definitely not unseen. Notable examples include ''Star Trek'' and ''Babylon 5''. However, in other science fiction, people in the future no longer know what planet they originally came from (for example, ''Battlestar Galactica'' and ''The Foundation Series''). ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', a book series by Douglas Adams, describes Earth as "Harmless" but the statement is revised in the book and later described as "Mostly Harmless". In the same series, Earth is said to be a supercomputer built by highly advanced pan-dimensional beings (Mice) to find out what the question that The Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything answers actually is. == See also == * Economy: world economy * History: history of the world * Legal system: international law * Political List of countries *Geology **Earthquake **Geologic time scale **Plate tectonics *Degree Confluence Project *Equatorial bulge *Earth in fiction **Journey to the Center of the Earth **Hollow Earth *Extraterrestrial life *Globus Cassus ==References== *[http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html NASA's Earth fact sheet] * ''Discovering the Essential Universe'' (Second Edition) by Neil F. Comins (2001) ==External links== * [http://geomag.usgs.gov USGS Geomagnetism Program] * [http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/classes/isacks/velstruct.pdf] (pdf) - density, pressure, gravity, P-wave and S-wave seismic wave velocities, and Poisson's ratio as a function of depth * [http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/index.html Earth 3D Map from NASA] free downloadable (184.3 Megabyte). Earth ang:Eor%C3%B0e bn:পৃথিবী fa:زمین hi:पृथ्वी kw:Dor la:Terra li:Eerd lv:Zeme jbo:Terdi ms:Bumi zh-min-nan:Tē-kiû nds:Eer simple:Earth su:Marcapada sw:Ardhi th:โลก vi:Tr�i Đất

Earth

==A Very Special Note from the Management== Q. Should I replace this article with the words "mostly harmless" or "harmless", as per ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''? A. No. Every other vandalism to this article is just that, and people who do this will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes. Share and enjoy! ---- */Archive 1 - 2003 and earlier __TOC__ ==Missing info== How did the Earth form? What aspect of the Earth or its location do astrobiology hypothesize as having been crucial to the development of its most idiosyncratic feature--life. How did life emerge and when. Have there been any noteworthy biological events since the appearance of the first cell (biology)? How does the emergence and history of life relate to geological and climate evolution? How often is Earth hit by asteroids? What have been the consequences? Do we expect more? How did scientists determine the average density of the earth? - The average density is Mass divided by Volume. To find the volume you need the radius which you can find by measuring the curvature of the Earth like Eratostenes did about 230BC. Then you know the volume of the Earth (assuming it is sufficiently spherical). To measure the mass you need to know the gravitational constant which was measured sometime I believe sometime in the 18th century. You apply Newton's law for gravity (the one with inverse-square radius) and you have the mass. How many human-made satellites are there and when did the first one (sputnik) go up? If you count every single piece of manmade debris - millions. Sputnik - October 4th 1957. How do people study the Earth? What kind of scientists study it? What questions plague us, if any? What are predicted fates of the Earth? What about the ozone hole? What about the Kyoto protocol? What about geomagnetic reversals?User:168... 05:22, 17 Jan 2004 (UTC) ==Humans living in orbit== ''Nearly all humans live on Earth: 6,327,152,352 inhabitants (November 1, 2003 est.)'' :Wow, that's an incredibly accurate "estimate"?? And what does it mean "nearly all humans live on Earth"?? Even those who are not on earth would not consider someplace outside earth their permanent residence. Certainly a more specific observation could be made (e.g. number of humans on average who are living in space at a given time). User:Revolver 01:19, 16 Mar 2004 (UTC) ::This issue has been raised in talk: before. Note that the very next line of the article explains what "nearly" means; "In orbit about Earth: 2 astronauts (November 28, 2003), on board the International Space Station." Whether being on board a permanently manned space station for a portion of a year counts as "living" there is apparently a matter of debate, but I believe it should count; scientists who spend the winter at the Antarctic research base are often described as "living" there for the winter, and the situation is quite analogous IMO. User:Bryan Derksen 01:50, 16 Mar 2004 (UTC) ==Largest terrestrial planet== User:Cantus has twice removed this statement from the intro paragraph: "the largest terrestrial planet in the solar system." I disagree with the reasons he's stated in the edit summaries (first that Jupiter's core might be larger, and then that it was "anecdotal"), and think it is a totally reasonable thing to say in the intro. Cantus, could you explain in greater detail why you think it should be removed? User:Bryan Derksen 04:27, 25 Mar 2004 (UTC) I don't think there's any credible evidence of any terrestrial planet our solar system that is larger than earth. Cantus' objections are absurd. I say if it gets removed in the future, that should be considered vandalism unless there's a damn good explanation. --User:P3d0 01:45, Sep 23, 2004 (UTC) :Personally I'd re-phrase it to be: "largest of the inner planets in the solar system" --- but I tend to dislike the phrase "terrestrial planet" as used here in any event. To me a "terrestrial planet" is a term of science fiction and describes a planet with a breathable atmosphere. They are using a non-intuitive interpretation of the Latin root ''terra'' to equate Earth with a silicate crust. That implies that the moon is "terrestrial" (though not a "terrestrial planet"). I consider that to be counter-intuitive and the confusion caused by it to be wholly unnecessary. :Many would disagree with you on that. The term "[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=terrestrial%20planet terrestrial planet]" is a well-defined scientific term. --User:P3d0 01:49, Oct 1, 2004 (UTC) :I personally don't think Jupiter's core counts as a terrestial planet. The huge layer of gases around it, forming most of Jupiter's volume, makes the physical conditions on Jupiter's core completely different from those on real terrestial planets. The same goes, of course, for Saturn, Neptune and Uranus as well. User:193.167.132.66 11:46, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC) ==Temperature== Bryan Derksen, where are you getting that mean temperature from? Averaging the min and max gives 258, not 282... If that average temp. was obtained thru a different method, care to mention the source? --User:Cantus 06:00, 25 Mar 2004 (UTC) :I don't know the source offhand, but the mean temperature of a planet is not necessarily just the max temperature plus the min temperature divided by two; those two extreme temperatures occur under exceptional conditions at just two particular locations on Earth's surface. Averaging them and calling that the mean would be like trying to determine sea level by averaging the height of Mt. Everest and the depth of the Mariannas Trench, so I'm not surprised it differs. :) User:Bryan Derksen 06:21, 25 Mar 2004 (UTC) :[http://www.nineplanets.org/earth.html] has the mean temperature as 287 K, which is pretty close to the figure that was in the article. User:Bryan Derksen 06:28, 25 Mar 2004 (UTC) == natural satellite == the moon is not the only "natural satellite". E.g. the earth has captured an asteroid named Cruithne. about mentioning the moon in a short article about earth: it's important. On this level, the earth is nothing than a planet among 9 others. The number of moons is characteristic and has to be meantioned. :No, Cruithne is not a moon of Earth; it's a co-orbital body at best. Trojan asteroids are not counted as moons of Jupiter and they're generally much more tightly bound than Cruithne is. I'm not sure what you mean about the importance of mentioning of the Moon in this article, since there's already a section all about it in here. User:Bryan Derksen 02:58, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC) ::Cruithne and the Trojan Asteroids are not "moons" but they are satellites. :::You make it sound as though there were no controversy in that statement. --User:P3d0 01:54, Oct 1, 2004 (UTC) ::They weren't put there by human effort ergo they are not artificial (hence, "natural"). Thus the original criticism seems valid; the Moon is not Earth's only natural satellite. One could argue that the Moon is Earth's only significant natural satellite; or that it's the only satellite visible to the naked eye from the Earth's surface.User:JimD 19:36, 2004 Sep 26 (UTC) :In the context of Cruithne, it is also worth mentioning the recently-discovered asteroid 2002 AA29. This is an asteroid that is co-orbital with the Earth. Occasionally, this asteroid is believed to enter into a quasi-satellite state, where it orbits the Earth and Sun in a period of 1 year. This asteroid is predicted to become a quasi-satellite in 2575. :More information on 2002 AA29: [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/earth_asteroid_021021.html Earth’s New Travelling Companion: Quasi-Satellite Discovered] --User:B.d.mills 10:57, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC) ==Year length ratio not right== I get 365.25636 / 365.2422 ≈ 1.00003877. User:Fredrik User talk:Fredrik 19:25, 16 Jun 2004 (UTC) :Hmmm, that's a good point. Doing the calculation the other way around gives 365.25636 / 1.0000174 = 365.25 exactly. And likewise for the other planets: for Jupiter, 4330.595 days / 11.856523 years = 365.25 exactly. :It turns out that JPL is using a Julian year of exactly 365.25 days, which astronomers still use for ephemeris work because of the direct and simple conversion to the Julian date (which is really the fundamental way to mark a point in time in astronomy). So I edited Earth and the other planet pages to reflect this. -- User:Curps 20:08, 16 Jun 2004 (UTC) ==Magnetic field== ''The planet is big enough to have the core differentiated into a liquid outer core, which gives rise to a weak magnetic field due to the convection of its electrically conductive material, and a solid inner core.'' ''It is generally believed that the rotation of the inner core (which is primarily composed of iron) creates the Earth's magnetic field. It is not known, exactly, why this occurs.'' I think this is confusing. What is causing the magnetic field - inner or outer core? Are there two components of the field? This needs to be clarified. User:Paranoid 11:02, 23 Jun 2004 (UTC) : It is not only confusing, but it would also appear to be inaccurate since it is the rotation of the outer core that creates the magnetic field. The solid inner core has a stablizing effect, but is probably not strictly necessary to maintaining the geodynamo. I will try to correct this section. User:Dragons flight 16:49, Jun 23, 2004 (UTC) ::Thanks. User:Paranoid 18:15, 23 Jun 2004 (UTC) == Irrelevant == : ''Most of them have reported a heightened understanding of its value and importance, reverence for human life and amazement at its beauty, not usually achieved by those living on the surface.'' Does this need to be in this article? Do we even have a source for it? User:Edward 10:01, 25 Jun 2004 (UTC) :I was unsure about where to place it, the Earth actually felt like the most relevant. We probably don't have a source for the "most" bit - that would be 200+ people and there wasn't a study about it, but so far I've read such things said by both space tourists, by Glenn and a couple other American astronauts and by several Russian cosmonauts as well. Some of them mentioned that these feelings are common among other spacefarers too. I think this is quite important fact, even if it sounds a bit silly and pompous. This can also be connected to the (missing?) article about Pale Blue Dot. User:Paranoid 12:55, 25 Jun 2004 (UTC) == Question about inclination == Inclination of Earth's orbit is given as 0.00005 degrees. Since this is the inclination ''to'' the Ecliptic, shouldn't this be 0 by definition? If the value given is related to some other plane, shouldn't that be made clear? Thanks. User:Amorim Parga 04:21, 17 Jul 2004 (UTC) :While I can't swear as to the origin of the particular number quoted, it is common to report orbital parameters with respect to either the J1950.0 or J2000.0 reference frames. In these reference frames the plane of the ecliptic and it's orientation is given by the orbit and position of the Earth at 12:00 AM, Jan 1, 1950 or 2000 respectively. So, at the moment that the plane is defined the inclination to the ecliptic is exactly 0, but because of perturbations from other planets, we will drift away from 0 (as measured in that frame) as time passes. Presumably this is the reason that the inclination is reported to be slightly non-zero, but I don't know at what time this was calculated or with respect to what reference frame. User:Dragons flight 04:41, Jul 17, 2004 (UTC) :(grumble about ascending node self-deleted.) If, as I've come to suspect, it means WRT the ''mean'' plane of the orbit, then 1) meanness should be spec'd in ecliptic 2) this article should have the associated epoch included, because as the intersection of two damn near parallel planes surely the values change rapidly. User:142.177.19.31 06:31, 24 Aug 2004 (UTC) Shouldn't the entry say "Mostly harmless." ?? Just drooling. ;-) == Torque Comparison == Someone attempted to add a comparison of the torques felt on the Earth by different astronomical objects in order to explain why the moon has a stabalizing effect on the axis of the Earth. For one thing, this is rather technical information and might not fit very well into this page, but worse than that, the numbers quoted were simply very wrong. It is clear from the scale of the numbers stated that the author was merely comparing the force exerted on the Earth from various astronomical objects. However the force is not the same as the torque. The torque depends not on the total force but on the difference in the force applied to one side of the equatorial bulge rather than the other. Because it is so close, the moon has the largest gravitational gradient across the Earth of any astronomical object (followed shortly thereafter by the sun). Hence, the Moon exerts the largest torque on the Earth and that is why the moon acts to stabilizes the Earth's axial tilt. However, other factors are also important. For example, relatively constant torques, such as from the Moon and Sun tend to cause axial precession and not nutations or axial tilts. For other planets (e.g. Mars) the total torques exerted depend more significantly on where it is in its orbit with respect to its nearest neighbors (e.g. Earth and Jupiter). It is when such time varying torques are a significant component of the total torque that one tends to promote chaotic shifts in the planet's axis. User:Dragons flight 18:56, Sep 11, 2004 (UTC) :I agree that I did not take into account the variability of the torques (only the Sun and Moon apply constant torque), but that is a minor quibble --it is the very variability of these "pulse torques" that drives rotation into an eventual chaotic regime. After thinking about it some, I must admit Dragons flight is right that it is the tidal forces I should have used. It is thus right and proper to remove the erroneous sentence. It was a tad too technical anyway, and did'nt fit well with the flow of the text. :User:Urhixidur 03:01, 2004 Sep 12 (UTC) Seems that the complex and as stated ''controversial'' subject of chaotic instability of Earth's axial tilt under ''moon'' should be moved to another article, maybe to axial tilt, rather than in this long general article. -User:Vsmith 01:49, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC) ==Humans/We== User:Cantus wrote: ''Encyclopedias are not written for aliens or animals''. So what's wrong with aliens (or animals) reading Wikipedia? — User:Monedula 11:55, 12 Sep 2004 (UTC) ==Population Estimate== Can we remove the specific number and round to the nearest 10,000? I'm pretty sure we haven't been able to get even that accurate as it is. User:Oberiko 17:10, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC) :Round to nearest 1,000,000 IMHO. — User:Chmod007 20:32, 22 Sep 2004 (UTC) ::It's the classic distinction between accuracy vs. precision. Saying that the human population of the earth is approximately 6 billion (10^9 -- Americal billions) is accurate. Specifying a number with 8 or 9 significant digits is more precise but less accurate (as it implies a precision that is inappropriate to its scale). The fact is that the daily fluctuation in Earth's population is several thousand per day. There are thousands of births and deaths every day. I'd guess that the best precision would be on the order of 100,000 (since it's about one order of magnitude above the daily fluctuations which tend to cancel out with a slightly increasing trend that may be well documented in World population.User:JimD 19:47, 2004 Sep 26 (UTC) ==Surface area== An anonymous user changed the surface area very slightly. I haven't done any calculations, but the change may even be within the error margin. However, I feared that this was one of the slashdot-inspired changes designed to evaluate the efficiency of Wikipedia peer review, so I'd like to find a recent supporting source for one of the numbers. However, my efforts of googling something up have been unsuccessful. Help? — User:Chmod007 20:32, 22 Sep 2004 (UTC) I can contribute some calculations. Hopefully it's good enough to assume an oblate spheroid with polar radius 6356.78km and equatorial radius 6378.14km, which are taken from our own Earth page (but which are more precise than the values listed in [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html NASA's planetary fact sheet]). First, the eccentricity is defined by: :

a^2 = b^2 + c^2 = b^2 + (ae)^2

Solving for eccentricity e: :

e^2 = \frac{a^2-b^2}{a^2}

e \approx 0.081772

Plugging into the formula for [http://mathworld.wolfram.com/OblateSpheroid.html the area of an oblate spheroid]: :

S = 2 \pi a^2 + \pi \frac{b^2}{e} \ln(\frac{1+e}{1-e})

S = 510,067,420.24374628km^2\;

This is evidently the calculation performed by the anonymous editor. However, carrying it to the nearest square kilometer is excessive, since (for instance) that implies that the radius figures are accurate to the nearest centimeter (!!), and is also far beyond the accuracy of the oblate spheroid approximation. Certainly 510,067,000km² is more than enough precision. --User:P3d0 02:48, Sep 23, 2004 (UTC) An unimportant point regarding the surface area of the Earth: the actual surface area of the Earth is slightly smaller than the surface area as calculated from its radius. This is due to the Earth's gravitational warping of space-time, and the difference is about an acre (about half a hectare).--User:B.d.mills 11:06, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC) ==Uranium Core== I recently read a rather interesting article in [http://www.sciencenews.org Science News] or in [http://www.newscientist.com New Scientist] about a theory that the Earth may have a Uranium core deep inside our Iron core. The main thesis of this theory is that it accounts for otherwise inexplicable levels of energy. Unfortunately I don't have the citations at hand and I'd be reluctant to add references to this theory without some discussion of it's merits. (In any event it would be posed only as a short counterpoint paragraph to the comment about the core's putative lack of heavier elements, especially uranium. Here's one older link: [http://www.discover.com/issues/aug-02/ Discover, August, 2002]. (Normally I wouldn't consider Discover to be a compellingly credible source --- but I'm sure I read this elsewhere and was impressed with the logic of the theory). User:JimD 20:11, 2004 Sep 26 (UTC) == The first line may be incorrect: Aliens may view this article == Where it says on the first line "Earth, the planet on which we live", that may be incorrect if aliens from another planet grasp satelite signals from our planet. In that case, we may offend them and they could sue Wikipedia for irrelevant information. I therefore feel we should change it to "Earth, the planet on which humans live". It's important that our information be as relevant as possible, and that is why we should change the first line. :Nonsense. Wikipedia is not written for aliens. Wikipedia is written for humans. Aliens who don't understand that must be very stupid aliens. User:Gerritholl 14:29, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC) ::Someone's been watching too much SciFi ;) User:Tomf688 04:23, Oct 9, 2004 (UTC) ::''Wikipedia is not written for aliens.'' But why not? What's wrong with aliens? — User:Monedula 06:41, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC) :::Regardless of our knowing about aliens reading this article or not, it surely would be the most factual characterisation of our home planet. I'd vote strongly for Earth, the planet on which humans live, with a correct link to an article explaining what a human is. The same should be applied to the solar system, the sun, which all should be called "our solar system", "our sun" instead. In this particular article only, of course. At least to emphasize our ability to not look at the baseline facts from the human-centric POV only. Maybe some kind of poll, ideas, anyone? User:Oneliner 19:52, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC) :Perhaps a separate entry may be made for aliens to read: "Mostly Harmless". ::Perhaps you should just bear in mind that fact that there's currently no evidence for past or current intelligent life or, in fact, any type of life in the Universe besides life on Earth. Wikipedia is supposed to deal with facts and established truths, not mere suggestions and controversial interpretations of incomplete data. For people keen on sharing knowledge with potential extraterrestrials, consider working in SETI. User:Smartech 00:59, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC) :::But the phrase Earth, the planet on which humans live conveys a fact and an established truth, isn't it? — User:Monedula 07:22, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC) : There is a moratorium on writing for extraterrestrials, which will be lifted simply by extraterrestrials participating in editing Wikipedia. (User:SEWilco 05:51, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)) ::How do you know they are not already? Are you SURE none of the anons are aliens editing from Area 51? Of course, they and the govt would deny it. User:All your base are belong to us 13:52, 27 May 2005 (UTC) == Billion == I removed the word "billion" in the second most recent edit as of when this edit to the talk page was made, but then someone started to include both forms?? Any comments about whether the word "billion" should be kept?? User:66.245.126.161 15:47, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC) Billion re-inserted along with scientific notation for clarity (for those who understand sci. not.). Billion is also used in several other places within the article and I inserted sci. not. with them also. May have missed some. Also did some more ''cleanup'' on this hodge-podge article at the same time. I'm the ''someone'' referred to in your note. Who are you? -User:Vsmith 16:40, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC) == Sol III == Earth is almost never called Sol III. Google hits: ;Earth: 11.100.000 ;Terra: 4.650.000 (most indirectly related) ;Sol III: 4.340 The latter is almost exclusively science-fiction. It is not enough to be featured in the first line in the article about Earth. An obscure SF-term is not notable enough for that! User:Gerritholl 09:47, 16 Oct 2004 (UTC) :How about "Dirt"? Google shows 654 hits for "Planet Dirt" :) -- User:Arwel Parry 22:50, 28 Oct 2004 (UTC) ;Third rock from the Sun: 48.100 (User:SEWilco 05:54, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)) == Human life outside earth == Does anyone have any opinions about whether permanent human life outside earth can become possible?? Where in the universe is this?? (This question was brought to my attention based on something that Louis Epstein wrote a while ago about people living thousands of years, which he says advanced technology makes possible, but which can't become useful with human life staying completely on earth because earth will become too crowded.) (Also, if you have any external links that talk about doing so, feel free to include them.) User:66.245.26.209 14:49, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC) :I'm sure that most of us have opinions on that. In a galaxy of at least 100 billion (1.0E9) stars it seems pretty darn likely that there are a more than a few that have terrestial sized planets at suitable distances around Sol type stars for liquid water to pool on the surface. There is even some evidence to suggest that the distinctive ratio and distance between the Earth and the Moon could be quite common. (Simulations show that a planet forming from primordial gas would naturally form another body near the La Grangian point between the planet and its star. That would be at the L4 or L5 regions between Earth and Sol in this case. The presence of a Jovian sized and situated planet would rock the other body out of its La Grangian point, where it would collide with the major body (Earth) and probably form a moon like ours. This theory does account for the relatively large iron core on Earth with the correspondingly low iron content on the Moon, since the impact would vaporize and melt most of the material of both bodies and the heaviest elements would tend to sink to the center of the larger mass whild the light silica, aluminum, etc, would coalesce into the crust and into the sattellite). :So, in short, there are opinions and more importantly there are theories that describe the mechanics of how a terrestrial Earth/Moon system could readily form around any star similar to Sol with a Jovian planet at the appropriate distance. There are simulations that support these theories. (The fact that the Moon is so close and relatiively large might be vital to the evolution of terrestrial life due to tidal effects at least, and possibly due to the way that the Moon "sweeps" our orbits and apparently significantly reduces the number of meteoric and other collisions with Earth). From a cosmological point of view Earth and Sol and our entire Solar system shouldn't be remarkable. There are millions of other stars in this galaxy that are similar in all the respects that we can observe from here, and many of the models suggest that nearly identical planetary formations could readily occur in many of them. We only know of our Solar system's remarkable capacity to support terrestrial life because we happen to be here; and we know of know way that we could detect terrestial-similar life even as close as Alpha Centauri, much less further out. :I would find it likely that there are other planets that already support carbon, nitrogen, oxygen life forms. There might be thousands of them. It's possible that we are the only "intelligent" life form in this galaxy at this time. However, there are many superclusters, each consisting of tens of thousands of galaxies, each of which having at least hundreds of spiral galaxies like ours, and each of those containing billions of stars like ours. It would be the epitomy of arrogance to assume that this little bump on a speck in one of them is the only place in the observed universe were "we" can be found. However, that's just my opinion and an inkling of the reasoning upon which I've formed it.User:JimD 13:17, 2004 Dec 4 (UTC) == Artificial Satellites == I've seen no mention of the number of ''artificial'' satellites orbiting Earth. I think it is definitely worth noting that our planet has thousands of bits of metal that we put up there ourselves orbiting it, even if only from an astronomical standpoint. --User:Jacius 22:30, 24 Oct 2004 (UTC) :I don't think it's possible to know how many "artificial satellites" there are, in the sense of separate objects in orbit which were put there by humans. Back in the 1960s there was an experiment which involved releasing millions of "needles" (or exploding a satellite into very small fragments, I forget which) into orbit to see how they behaved. This has polluted certain orbits ever since, and was a particularly stupid idea. -- User:Arwel Parry 22:53, 28 Oct 2004 (UTC) == moon navigator == It would be good to link the various moon navigator's together, and provide a small page explaining them(it could be called Wikipedia:moon navigator). Right now, it's not obvious what purpose it serves. I don't have time to do it right now, but I'll do it if no one else gets to it. User:JesseW 13:39, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC) == Infobox template == The template seems to have been corrupted. I don't know how to access it so I copied the infobox from before the template move (11-4) and pasted it back into the article. -User:Vsmith 01:00, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC) :Looks like an anonymous user chopped off the last few lines of the template, which removed the table-termination code (as well as the "edit this template" link that would have made it easier to fix :). The entirety of the article wound up being engulfed by the table as a result. I've fixed it now. User:Bryan Derksen 02:04, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC) ::Thanks. I had figured that was the likely problem, just couldn't find the template file to fix it. I'm learning... -User:Vsmith 03:20, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC) :::Whenever you see something in curly brackets like , you can usually find it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:this. The exception is when it's explicitly in another namespace, such as , a trick that's used in many of the "voting" administrative pages to keep things tidy. That doesn't come up in regular articles, though. User:Bryan Derksen 03:48, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC) == That Image of Earth is 5 MBs... == Rather large for an article don't you think? http://commons.wikimedia.org/upload/f/f4/The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17.png User:Zen-master 05:15, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC) :The image that's actually displayed on Wikipedia is only 110kB, though, since it's been thumbnailed. You only download the 5MB version if you click through the thumbnail. User:Bryan Derksen 08:00, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC) ::yeah but still too big, and links to too big of a file. I guess wikipedia gets their bandwidth for free. User:Zen-master 08:16, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC) :::I think it's donated by Bomis. — User:Chmod007 08:21, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC) :Personally, I think it's good both for the reason that extra resolution is always better for free content when possible(makes reuse easier), and the impression that the earth is as big as it is is strengthend by having an image that can't easily be displayed on one screen. ;-) User:JesseW 08:43, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC) :::I agree about the resolution, but what about modem or other slow users and if wikipedia's bandwidth really is free may I have some too? User:Zen-master 10:05, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC) ::::I just added a note to the caption.(On Template:Planet Infobox/Earth) Re: free bandwidth; you just did, and do everytime someone looks at your User page. ;-) User:JesseW 05:47, 20 Nov 2004 (UTC) == Hollow Earth? == I've heard talk about a hollow Earth theory.. and I've done little research on it with Google. I'm not sure if it's complete bogus or if it's true, but some people seem to believe the theory (and some claim to have traveled inside Earth). Shouldn't something about this theory about Earth be included? --User:MikeRS 07:43, 21 Nov 2004 (UTC) :There's an article about it at Hollow Earth. Oddly enough, it's not linked to from this article; I'll fix that. User:Bryan Derksen 08:47, 21 Nov 2004 (UTC) ---- Shouldn't we mention something about Tellus? == Social statistics in the infobox == Identifying Earth with the human race seems rather inaccurate to me. There must be a more appropriate article for those stats to go in. I would recommend human. User:Bonalaw 09:55, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC) :I say they should stay here. You might split out Earth (planet) (which now redirects here, move info to that article instead) with information similar to that in Mercury (planet) and Venus (planet) and the like, leaving only a little of that here with link. User:Gene Nygaard 10:36, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC) I dislike that new info box with human social statistics. The rest of the article is mostly on the physical characteristics of the earth, it seems as though the social statistics are out of place. Also I would like to point out that there are exactly two (2) refferences for this article when I am typing this. This number should be far far higher for an article as important as this one. User:Harley peters 20:40, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC) Yes, the social statistics definitely needs to go. I suggest moving it to human. User:Fredrik | User talk:Fredrik 18:49, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC) == New illustrations available == For the w:sv:Jorden I've created an illustration of Earth's interior. If you like it you might want to add it here as well. Have a look at: # commons:Image:jordens_inre_med_siffror.jpg # commons:Image:jordens_inre.jpg / User:Mats Halldin 06:00, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC) :: I like the carbon cycle diagram --User:Smartech 07:04, 4 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==Mostly Harmless== Anyone else in favor of wiping out the article and replacing it with the words "mostly harmless"? I thought I'd survey public opinion before doing it myself. User:Halidecyphon 20:41, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC) I just resisted the temptation, myself. - RJ Mar 2005 It's been done over and over and over and over and over and over (deep breath) and over and over again. It was barely funny the ''first'' time. :) User:Bryan Derksen 07:43, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC) : Before you do it you must file proper paperwork for "Interstellar Topic Bypass" at the regional Vogon consulate. (User:SEWilco 17:16, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)) :: It is highly reccomended that you attend a vogon poetry recital while there, preferably before filing User:Kim Bruning 17:33, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC) :::#REDIRECT [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A482933 H2G2] -- User:Solipsist 20:49, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC) :::: I especially like the part of a recent valdalism stating GDP of $900 billion per capita, if inflation doesnt skyrocket as well :) User:Smartech 07:02, 4 Apr 2005 (UTC) ===List of people tempted to do this, who thought better of it after reading the note at the top of the page=== * User:195.158.9.78 12:02, 27 May 2005 (UTC) : I say we should do it, but perhaps there should first be a poll, perhaps on the main page. Tribute to the greatest writer who ever lived is always important. : ''Above unsigned comment by User:207.239.12.200, a user who has done the "blank and Mostly Harmless" thing several times, despite several warnings (including a specific request not to do so by me on May 13 User talk:207.239.12.200#Edits on Earth). --User:DeathphoenixUser_talk:Deathphoenix 21:14, 27 May 2005 (UTC) How about this. Next time someone replaces it with "mostly harmless", we slap a copyvio template on it? --User:SPUI (User talk:SPUI) 22:44, 27 May 2005 (UTC) :The irony is that anyone who tries to describe Earth as "mostly harmless" in an encyclopedia is missing the point of the joke anyway. --User:Bonalaw 11:40, 28 May 2005 (UTC) == Shape == Recently 67.161.42.199 added: :''The earth is a very slightly oblate spheriod, with a average diameter of approximately 12,742 kilometers. Since the highest point on the earth, the summit of Mount Everest is only 8,850 meters, the earth is spherical within a tolerance of one part in 1,439, or 0.00069 percent. The mass of the earth is approximately 6 sextillion metric tons. '' The tolerance part of this is nonsense. We quote in the article "Equatorial diameter 12,756.28 km, Polar diameter 12,713.56 km", giving a difference equator to pole of 43 km at sea level. As I recall the point farthest from the center is actually at the top of some mountain in South America near the equator. Though the calculation is apparently wrong, it might still be worth having these few sentences, assuming someone here who isn't about to go bed can figure out how to accurately describe the shape of the Earth. User:Dragons flight 08:57, Mar 22, 2005 (UTC) :Mount Chimborazo, to be specific. This needs to be addressed. User:Fredrik | User talk:Fredrik 15:06, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Image vs Infobox == User:Dragons_flight said that :Image:Earth-crust-cutaway-english.png being placed on the right causes problems: "On wide screens, placing it on the right creates a huge gap between Core and Mantle." Not on my browser, even when expanding to span two monitors. Placing the image on the left can produce the text below on a more common width. (I'll work on the monster Infobox some to reduce various problems). (User:SEWilco) [edit] Mantle Main article: Mantle (geology) Earth's mantle extends to a depth of 2890 km. The pressure, at the bottom of the mantle, is That looks better. I split the social box off, and moved it next to the Human section. Infoboxes tend to be at the top of an article, but that would widely separate the related text and box, with a lot of Earth_as_planet between. (User:SEWilco 05:33, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)) == What's Going on? == The first part of this article is total crap...I can't get rid of it cause I can't find it when I go to edit...something's wrong! User:Bremen 05:33, 23 Apr 2005 (UTC) == editnote template listed for deletion == In case someone is interested, the editnote template used in the Mostly Harmless reminder has been suggested for deletion: Templates_for_deletion#Template:Editnote ''Template author:'' (User:SEWilco 18:11, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC)) == there are other solar systems == I really think the beginning of this article should be more general. (''not signed by submitter'') :If that's the case, the article for Solar system needs to be updated. It implies there is only one system centred on Sol. User:Notinasnaid 19:26, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC) : No, as this is about a specific planet. The beginning does have a link to solar system, which promptly mentions that if you are interested in bodies around other stars you should look at planetary system. (User:SEWilco 19:29, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC))

Earth

Hello, Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers to Wikipedia. I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedia:Wikipedians. You can learn more on the Wikipedia:How to edit a page page. The Wikipedia:naming conventions and Wikipedia:Manual of Style pages are also useful. There is a Wikipedia:sandbox which you can use to experiment in. If you have any questions, see the Wikipedia:Help or add a question to the Wikipedia:village pump. If you ever think a page or image should be deleted, please list it at the Wikipedia:votes for deletion page. There is also a Wikipedia:votes for undeletion page if you want to retrieve something that you think should not have been deleted. User:Angela 03:09, 22 Aug 2003 (UTC) ---- I deleted the redirect you made because redirects should not point to pages that don't exist yet. Sorry. --Merovingian">User:Merovingian✍Talk">User talk:Merovingian 22:05, Jul 5, 2004 (UTC) *no problem User:Earth 21:09, Jul 24, 2004 (UTC) ---- ==Demise of UMNO== The "Demise of UMNO" section you added to United Malays National Organisation is taken from [http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/5544/mayday7.htm here]. Do you have permission from the copyright holder for this? User:Jpatokal 05:51, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC) *It was not me that added that. Probably another user copied and pasted it earlier. I merely added a quotation mark. If you have checked the page history, you may well see that I was not the one that added the whole thing. The user that plagrarized was from 202.187.231.197. So, I am not the one that should be asked that question. User:Earth 23:07, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC) ---- == Anwar Ibrahim POV dispute == You posted on the talk, and I was wondering if you could help balance out Anwar Ibrahim. I've placed the NPOV-dispute notice there as a result of several glaring omissions from the article about the government's point of view, Anwar's critics' point of view, and just about anyone's view except those who support Anwar. I've tried to NPOV it, but my edits are hampered by a lack of in-depth knowledge on Anwar and the claims of his critics. For more, you can see Talk:Anwar Ibrahim. User:Johnleemk | User talk:Johnleemk 10:09, 8 Sep 2004 (UTC) *I'll try. But with the latest development, I think there will be an edit war User:Earth 20:26, Sep 9, 2004 (UTC) ---- ==ms.wikipedia== Hi there. I've been keeping an occasional eye on Malaysia-related topics to find potential recruits for the :ms:. Maybe you'd like to head over, take a look, give a hand? Cheers, -- User:Kowey 20:49, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC) ---- ==Kyoto== Thanks for that fine distinction you made about greenhouse gases. The Kyoto Protocol article really should distinguish between ghg's that it aims to regulate, and those it plans to take charge of later or just ignore altogether. Also, do you know of any plans to modify and/or intensify the regulation scheme? Will an international board be set up to assign national quotas? User:Ed Poor user talk:Ed Poor 17:01, Nov 16, 2004 (UTC) :Not any that I know of. But the emission trading will be done via three method specified in the Protocol. That much I know. User:Earth 04:30, Dec 2, 2004 (UTC) == Article Licensing == Hi, I've User:rambot#Free the Rambot Articles project to get users to Wikipedia:Multi-licensing all of their contributions that they've made to either (1) all U.S. state, county, and city articles or (2) all articles, using the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike (''CC-by-sa'') v1.0 and v2.0 Creative Commons Licenses or into the public domain if they prefer. The ''CC-by-sa'' license is a true free documentation license that is similar to Wikipedia's license, the GFDL, but it allows other projects, such as WikiTravel, to use our articles. Since you are among the Wikipedia:List_of_Wikipedians_by_number_of_edits Wikipedians by edits, I was wondering if you would be willing to multi-license all of your contributions or at ''minimum'' those on the geographic articles. Over 90% of people asked have agreed. For More Information: *User talk:Ram-Man#Multi-Licensing FAQ - Lots of questions answered *Wikipedia:Multi-licensing *User:rambot#Free the Rambot Articles project To allow us to track those users who muli-license their contributions, many users copy and paste the "" template into their user page, but there are other options at Wikipedia:Template messages/User namespace#Licensing Templates. The following examples could also copied and pasted into your user page: :Option 1 :I agree to Wikipedia:Multi-licensing all my contributions, with the exception of my user pages, as described below: : OR :Option 2 :I agree to Wikipedia:Multi-licensing all my contributions to any U.S. state, county, or city article as described below: : Or if you wanted to place your work into the public domain, you could replace "" with "". If you only prefer using the GFDL, I would like to know that too. ''Please let me know'' what you think at my User talk:Ram-Man. It's important to know either way so no one keeps asking. -- User:Ram-Man ([http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=User_talk:Ram-Man&action=edit§ion=new comment]| User talk:Ram-Man == A Neo-Cultural Art == Although the poem was in the sandbox, it was a work of art, and therefore, it shouldn't have been deleted. :Aw, sorry. I'd put it back if nobody objects. User:Earth == Sandbox == Please don't libel people in the sandbox, even if only in jest. It is considered not nice. User:Fvw --User:fvw*">User talk:Fvw 02:08, 2004 Dec 19 (UTC) :First, it's a sandbox. Second, look at the history. User:Earth 02:10, Dec 19, 2004 (UTC) ::There are still rules in the sandbox though. Misattribution and libel are not allowed anywhere. I don't know who's creative mind the poem sprung from, I merely checked to see who most recently added it. And have a nice day yourself too.User:Fvw --User:fvw*">User talk:Fvw 02:15, 2004 Dec 19 (UTC) == Unverified images == Thanks for uploading :Image:Afcajax.jpg. I noticed that it currently doesn't have an Wikipedia:Image copyright tags. Could you add one to let us know its copyright status? (You can use if you release it under the GFDL, or if you claim Wikipedia:Fair use, etc.) If you don't know what any of this means, just let me know where you got the images and I'll tag them for you. Thanks so much, User:Ricky81682_(User_talk:Ricky81682)">User:Ricky81682|User:Ricky81682 (User_talk:Ricky81682) 01:54, Dec 20, 2004 (UTC) == Sandbox again == Hi there, I'm afraid the sandbox has to be raked from time to time. If you want to save the page or the coding examples for future reference, please use a subpage as a personal sandbox like User:Earth/Sandbox. User:MacGyverMagic|^{User_talk:MacGyverMagic 09:00, Dec 23, 2004 (UTC)

== Discrimination against non-Muslims in Malaysia ==

Er...why did you put in the misleading edit summary implying you were citing a source when you were really removing material from the article? User:Johnleemk | User talk:Johnleemk 09:22, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

: It's not misleading if you read it in context. I'd say "source cited" instead of "cite source" if I were citing source. There's difference between those two phrases. User:Earth 15:49, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)

== Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Wan Azizah Ismail ==

Aloha. I was hoping you could comment on the VfD for Wan Azizah Ismail -- an earlier article of a more expanded duplicate you created: Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. Even though the google test shows more hits for the alternate name, I was wondering if you had any comments you could add on this issue. Thanks in advance. --User:Viriditas | User_talk:Viriditas 01:23, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC)
:Thanks for the headsup. User:Earth 15:09, Feb 18, 2005 (UTC)

==Malaya==

As a geographical expression of course Malaya existed before 1948. I put a lot of work into this article so please don't make silly edits. User:Adam Carr 14:20, 4 Apr 2005 (UTC)

:I'm sorry. Wikipedia is a collaborative work. If you don't like to see you work being edited mercilessly, there's nothing I can do for you. User:Earth 03:53, Apr 6, 2005 (UTC)

I don't mind it being edited mercilessly. I object to it being edited thoughtlessly. User:Adam Carr 23:29, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)

== MichiganDiagFall2004.jpg ==

Thanks for uploading :Image:MichiganDiagFall2004.jpg, however as you have licensed it under a non-Free license (CC by-nc-nd 2.0), it cannot be freely displayed on Wikipedia. Please consider dual-licensing it under one of the licenses listed here: Image_copyright_tags#Creative_Commons_Licenses. Thanks! --User:Bungopolis 06:15, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)

== Your umich.edu homepage ==

Does ITCS actually provide PHP/SQL support? User:Xmnemonic 04:48, 2005 Apr 25 (UTC)

:For basic student account, no. But I do believe with extra payment, they provide it for you. User:Earth 05:54, Apr 25, 2005 (UTC)

== Just wondering.... ==

Is the Hafiz in your name corresponding to the concept of Hafiz? Just confirming, because now I'm comforted with proof that Wikipedians are a talented lot. Now we have one that knows the Quran by heart! ;) -- User:Natalinasmpf 01:28, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)Earth

The name is Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. I am an economics graduate of the University of Michigan and I consider myself as a green movement. Currently residing in Michigan, USA.

I first joined Wikipedia probably in 2002 but I only registered with Wikipedia in August 2003. Damn all those edits. They are all mine I tell you!

I have contributed a lot to Wikipedia but most of it concern correcting minor mistakes and adding minor detail here and there and here again. However, pages that I have significantly contributed to are:

Malaysia:
*Association of Southeast Asian Nations
*Emblem of Malaysia
*Federation of Malaya
*Kuala Kangsar
*Jomo Kwame Sundaram
*Lee Lam Thye
*Ligitan
*List of islands of Malaysia
*List of national parks of Malaysia
*Malay College Kuala Kangsar
*Malayan Union
*Malaysia
*Military of Malaysia
*Pangkor Treaty of 1874
*Perodua
*Proton (car)
*Putrajaya
*Seremban
*Sipadan
*Southeast Asia
*Status of religious freedom in Malaysia
*Sultanate of Malacca
*Universiti Tenaga Nasional
*Razaleigh Hamzah
*Razali Ismail
*Straits Settlements
*Unfederated Malay States
*Wan Azizah Wan Ismail

Soccer:
*Ajax Amsterdam
*Cristian Chivu
*Louis van Gaal
*Marc Overmars
*SC Heerenveen
*Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Economics:
*Economy of Asia
*Globalization and Its Discontents
*Hotelling rent
*Lucas critique
*Mundell-Fleming model
*Ricardian rent
*Von Thuren rent (merged with Johann Heinrich von Th�nen)

Etc:
*BaikalFinansGroup
*Bilbringi
*Duarte Barbosa (stub, plan to add more)
*History of Southeast Asia
*Interfax
*Kashykk (Has been merged and redirected to Kashyyyk)
*Thane district
*University of Michigan
*treespiking (The page to treespiking however has been redirected to tree spiking)

Graphics:
*Location of ASEAN, Southeast Asia
::
*Template:ASEAN table
*University of Michigan's Diag
::
*Joseph Stigliz
::

----

My homepage is at http://www.umich.edu/~mnoorsha/ and my talk page is User_talk:__earth if you wanna kick me in the ass.

Wikipedia is not always about fact. Wikipedia is much more colorful than it seems to be. It really is and that is what I love about this project! If you need proof, pay WP:-) and in particular, Wikipedia:Bad_jokes_and_other_deleted_nonsense/ASCII_cows a visit.

User:Earth 10:10, Mar 17, 2005 (UTC)Earth

Sol System planets

See other meanings of words starting from letter:E
EA |
EB |
EC |
ED |
EF |
EG |
EH |
EI |
EJ |
EK |
EL |
EM |
EN |
EO |
EP |
ER |
ES |
ET |
EU |
EW |
EX |
EY |
EZ |

Words begining with Earth:

EartH
Earth
Earth
Earth
Earth
Earth
Earth's_atmosphere
Earth's_atmosphere
Earth's_Children
Earth's_core
Earth's_crust
Earth's_energy_budget
Earth's_energy_budget
Earth's_magnetic_field
Earth's_magnetic_field
Earth's_mantle
Earth's_moon
Earth's_Orbit
Earth's_radius
Earth's_structure
Earth,_Texas
Earth,_TX
Earth,_Wind,_and_Fire
Earth,_Wind_&_Fire
Earth,_Wind_&_Fire
Earth,_Wind_&_Fire_(album)
Earth,_Wind_&_Fire_(album)
Earth,_Wind_&_Fire_albums
Earth,_Wind_and_Fire
Earth,_wind_and_fire
Earth-3
Earth-6
Earth-616
Earth-616
Earth-crosser_asteroid
Earth-crosser_asteroids
Earth-crossing_asteroid
Earth-crossing_asteroids
Earth-impact_hazard
Earth-ionosphere_cavity_resonance
Earth-Minbari_War
Earth-Minbari_war
Earth-Moon-Earth
Earth-nut
Earth-One
Earth-sheltered_home
Earth-sheltered_home
Earth-Two
Earth/Archive_1
Earth/Sandbox
Earth2
Earth2150:_The_Moon_Project
Earth:_2025
Earth:_Final_Conflict
Earth:_Final_Conflict
Eartha
Eartha_Kitt
Eartha_Kitt
Earth’s_Children
Earthbag_Construction
Earthbag_construction
Earthborn
EarthBound
EarthBound
EarthBound
Earthbound
Earthbound
Earthbound01
Earthbound_(album)
Earthbound_(album)
EarthBound_0
EarthBound_0
Earthbound_0
EarthBound_64
EarthBound_Zero
Earthbound_Zero
Earthclod
Earthcore
Earthdawn
EarthDweller
Eartheater_Cichlid
Eartheater_Cichlid
Eartheater_cichlid
Earthenware
Earthen_dam
Earthfall
Earthfill_Dam
Earthfirst
EarthForce
Earthhouse
Earthjustice
Earthliberator
Earthliberator
Earthlife
Earthlife_Africa
Earthlight
Earthling
Earthling_(album)
Earthling_(album)
EarthLink
EarthLink
Earthlink
Earthlink_P2P
Earthlink_SIPshare
Earthlink_SIPshare
Earthly_Branch
Earthly_branch
Earthly_Branches
Earthly_branches
Earthly_Powers
EarthmatriX
Earthmayor
Earthquake
Earthquake
Earthquakes
Earthquakes
Earthquake_(comics)
Earthquake_(disambiguation)
Earthquake_(movie)
Earthquake_(video_game_character)
Earthquake_cloud
Earthquake_cloud
Earthquake_clouds
Earthquake_construction
Earthquake_construction
Earthquake_insurance
Earthquake_lights
Earthquake_lights
Earthquake_liquefaction
Earthquake_Management
Earthquake_Management
Earthquake_on_boxing_day
Earthquake_prediction
Earthquake_prediction
Earthquake_preparedness
Earthquake_preparedness
Earthquake_swarm
Earthquake_Weather
Earthquake_Weather
Earthrise
Earths
EarthSave
EarthScope
Earthsea
Earthsea
Earthsearch
Earthsearch_2
Earthsearch_II
Earthshine
Earthship
Earthships
Earthshock
Earthsound
Earthstars
EarthStation_5
EarthStation_5
Earthstation_One
Earthsuit
Earthsuit
Earths_Children
Earthtone_III
Earthwork
Earthworks
Earthworks
Earthworks_(art)
Earthworks_(art)
Earthworks_(corporation)
Earthworks_(engineering)
Earthworks_(novel)
Earthworm
Earthworm
Earthworms
Earthworm_eel
Earthworm_Jim
Earthworm_Jim_2
Earthworm_organic_cycle
Earthworm_organic_cycle
Earth_&_Beyond
Earth_(album)
Earth_(Andromeda)
Earth_(Babylon_5)
Earth_(band)
Earth_(chemistry)
Earth_(classical_element)
Earth_(classical_element)
Earth_(disambiguation)
Earth_(dragonball)
Earth_(Dragon_Ball)
Earth_(electricity)
Earth_(Foundation)
Earth_(Foundation_universe)
Earth_(Foundation_universe)
Earth_(movie)
Earth_(Noon_Universe)
Earth_(novel)
Earth_(novel)
Earth_(Planet)
Earth_(planet)
Earth_(Star_Trek)
Earth_2
Earth_2025
Earth_2140
Earth_2150
Earth_2150:_The_Moon_Project
Earth_616
Earth_Abides
Earth_Age
Earth_Airlines
Earth_Alliance
Earth_Alliance_(Babylon_5)
Earth_Alliance_(Gundam)
Earth_Alliance_Civil_War_(Babylon_5)
Earth_Alliance_Vessels
Earth_and_Beyond
Earth_And_Sun_And_Moon
Earth_and_Sun_and_Moon
Earth_and_Sun_and_Moon
Earth_Angel
Earth_Angel
Earth_Angel_(Will_You_Be_Mine)
Earth_Art
Earth_art
Earth_atmosphere
Earth_atmosphere
Earth_battery
Earth_Charter
Earth_conductor
Earth_Crisis
Earth_Dam
Earth_dam
Earth_Day
Earth_Day
Earth_day
Earth_Federal_Forces
Earth_Federation
Earth_Federation_Forces
Earth_Final_Conflict
Earth_First
Earth_First!
Earth_First!
Earth_flag
Earth_Girls_Are_Easy
Earth_Girl_Arjuna
Earth_Goddess
Earth_government
Earth_ground
Earth_Handle
Earth_icon.svg
Earth_immune_system
Earth_immune_system
Earth_impact
Earth_impacts
Earth_impacts
Earth_impact_hazard
Earth_in_fiction
Earth_in_fiction
Earth_in_the_Balance
Earth_in_the_Balance
Earth_Is_Room_Enough
Earth_laid_upon_a_Corpse
Earth_laid_upon_a_corpse
Earth_leakage_breaker
Earth_leakage_circuit_breaker
Earth_leakage_trip
Earth_Liberation_Front
Earth_Liberation_Front
Earth_Magnetism
Earth_Magnetism
Earth_materials
Earth_Mother
Earth_Mother
Earth_mother
Earth_mysteries
Earth_observation_satellite
Earth_observation_satellites
Earth_Observatory
Earth_Observing_System
Earth_orbit
Earth_orbits
Earth_orbits
Earth_Orbit_Rendezvous
Earth_oven
Earth_phenomena
Earth_President
Earth_Prime
Earth_prime
Earth_Radii
Earth_radii
Earth_radius
Earth_radius
Earth_reference_point
Earth_religion
Earth_resonance
Earth_Return_Vehicle
Earth_Satellite
Earth_Science
Earth_science
Earth_science
Earth_Sciences
Earth_sciences
Earth_sciences
Earth_Sciences_basic_topics
Earth_scientist
Earth_scientists
Earth_sheltered_home
Earth_sheltered_home
Earth_sheltering
Earth_sheltering
Earth_shoe
Earth_shoes
Earth_sign
Earth_Simulator
Earth_Song
Earth_Spacedock
Earth_Sphere_Unified_Nation
Earth_spider
Earth_Station
Earth_station
Earth_Station_McKinley
Earth_Station_McKinley
Earth_Summit
Earth_Summit
Earth_Summit_2002
Earth_terminal_complex
Earth_vs._the_Flying_Saucers
Earth_vs_the_Flying_Saucers
Earth_Wind_&_Fire
Earth_Wind_and_Fire
Earth_wind_and_fire
Earth_worm}