Happy Earth Day

For nearly 50 years, we have been celebrating Earth day. Today, we pay closer attention and give thanks to our beautiful planet. Across the world, people observe Earth Day with their own unique celebrations and festivals. Hug a tree, thank a bee, and smile at the sea. Here are four beautiful facts to consider today as we celebrate the Earth. 

1. While the Earth certainly isn’t flat, it has never been perfectly round either. Our planet bulges around the equator by an extra 0.3 percent as a result of the fact that it rotates about its axis. The difference of 26.6 miles is about 1/300th the diameter of Earth, which is too tiny to be seen in pictures from space, so the planet appears round to the human eye.

2. Our days have gotten longer since the Earth was created. When Earth was formed 4.6 billion years ago, its day would have been roughly six hours long. However, about 620 million years ago, this had increased to 21.9 hours. Today, the average day is 24 hours long, but it is increasing by about 1.7 milliseconds every century. What is causing the days to get longer? The Earth’s spinning makes its ocean bulges move a little bit ahead of the moon-Earth line, which causes a force that slows down the Earth’s rotation.

3. The plate that Australia sits on has been moving relatively fast, about 2.7 inches a year heading northeast. In contrast, the North American plate has been moving roughly one inch yearly. Australia has a history of making frequent and significant changes to its latitude and longitude due to its distinct geology. In the past 50 years alone, Australia has made corrections four times, with the most recent in 1994 being a change of approximately 656 feet. The last adjustment was made at the end of 2016, and the change was calculated to be around 4.9 feet.

 4. Earth Day was created in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, Senator from Wisconsin, to spread awareness about the lack of environmental regulation and the need to protect the Earth. Eight months after its creation, the EPA was made, and now we are seeing increasing awareness and concern for our planet. 

Now you have fun facts about Earth to surprise people with today. Celebrating Earth Day not only gives our planet love, but keeps us aware that we need to be conscious and intentional about how we live on it. Make sure to give Earth some love, not just today, but every day.