SCIENCE PLANET EARTH FACTS

1. Hawaii has beach with green sand. It is the only one known , and was produced by olivine a volcanic rock that smashed into tiny grains.
2. For 186 days of the year, the sun is not visible at the North Pole.
3. In the last 550 milion years, there have been five events that have each destroyed at least 50 percent of all life on the planet.
4. Some rocks float on water. Pumice stone is hardened volcanic lava. It often contains so many air bubbles that it is light enough to float.
5. Fossilized sea animals are often found on the tops of tall mountains. The mountain tops were once parts of the seabed that have been pushed upwards by colliding lumps of land.
6. When lightning strikes a beach, it melts the sand, which hardens again as a type of glass called fulgurite. It often forms in twisty tube shapes.
7. The world's tallest mountain looks quite flat! Mauna Keain Hawaii is 10,205 metres (33,480 feet) tall from its base on the seabed, but 60 percent of it is hidden under the sea and the rest doesn't look very pointy.
8. Earth is getting fat! It is gradually getting thicker around the middle, becoming more pumpkin-shaped than round.
9. The largest desert in the world also contains most of the world's fresh water! Antarctica qualifies as a desert as it has virtually no rainfall.
10. Nearly an eight of the earth's surface is dry desert where less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of rain falls in a year.
11. Water flows from the Amazon river into the sea with such power that even at a distance of 161 kilometers (100 miles) from the coast, it is possible to scoop up fresh Amazonian water from the sea.
12. The Dead Sea has amazing healing properties. The water is rich in minerals and helps to relieve skin and joint problems.
13. Earthquakes can cause landslides and avalanches which can cause serious damage in mountainous places.
14. On 16 December 1811, the Mississippi river flowed backwards as a result of an earthquake.
15. A tsunami is a massive wave that sweeps over the land and destroys everything in its path. It can be 30 metres (100 feet) high when it strikes the shore.
    
16. Llames are related to camels. A common ancestor roamed from one land to the other when Asia and South America were joined up now they are separated by the Pacific Ocean.
17. About one tenth of the earth's surface is covered in ice. The Vredefort craterin South Africa was created 2 billion years ago by an asteroid or comet striking Earth. Its big enough to fit 270,000 tennis courts inside.
18. Mount Fuji, the volcano that towers over the Japanese capital Tokyo, last erupted in 1707. The earthquakes and tsunami that followed killed 30,000 people and the rice fields were left barren for 100 years.
19. The lava (molten rock) that erupts out of a volcano can be as hot as 1,200 degrees Celsius (2,200 degrees Fahrenheit) and the power of a large eruption can equal that of a million nuclear bombs.
20. The Antarctic ice sheet contains 90% of all fresh water on Earth.
21. Obsidian is a naturally occurring shiny black glass, made when volcanic lava cools very fast. Its edges are razor sharp.
22. If you lie in the Dead Sea, you float very easily! The sea is nine times as salty as the Mediterranean too salty for fish to live in but great to float in.
23. Enough energy reaches the Earth from the Sun every second to fulfil all our power need for a year.
24. Oil and coal are both made from the dead bodies of animals and plants that lived millions of years ago.
25. Sound travels through granite rock ten times faster than it travels through air.