essay of the earth

English Compositions

Short Essay on Our Planet Earth [100, 200, 400 words] With PDF

Earth is the only planet that sustains life and ecosystems. In this lesson, you will learn to write essays in three different sets on the planet earth to help you in preparing for your upcoming examinations.

Short Essay on Our Planet Earth in 100 Words

Earth is a rare planet since it is the only one that can support life. On Earth, life is possible for various reasons, the most essential of which are the availability of water and the presence of oxygen. Earth is a member of the Solar System. The Earth, along with the other seven planets, orbits the Sun.

One spin takes approximately twenty-four hours, and one revolution takes 365 days and four hours. Day and night, as well as the changing of seasons, occurs due to rotation and revolution. However, we have jeopardized our planet by our sheer ignorance and negligence. We must practise conservation of resources and look after mother earth while we have time.

Short Essay on Our Planet Earth in 200 Words

Earth is a blue planet that is special from the rest of the planets because it is the only one to sustain life. The availability of water and oxygen are two of the most crucial factors that make life possible on Earth. The Earth rotates around the Sun, along with seven other planets in the solar system. It takes 24 hours to complete one rotation, and approximately 365 days and 4 hours to complete one revolution. Day and night, as well as changing seasons, are all conceivable due to these two movements. 

However, we are wasting and taking advantage of the natural resources that have been bestowed upon us. Overuse and exploitation of all-natural resources produce pollution to such an alarming degree that life on Earth is on the verge of extinction. The depletion of the ozone layer has resulted in global warming. The melting of glaciers has resulted in rising temperatures.

Many animals have become extinct or are endangered. To protect the environment, we must work together. Conversation, resource reduction, reuse, and recycling will take us a long way toward restoring the natural ecosystem. We are as unique as our home planet. We have superior intelligence, which we must employ for the benefit of all living beings. The Earth is our natural home, and we must create a place that is as good as, if not better than, paradise.

Short Essay on Our Planet Earth in 400 Words

Earth is a unique planet as it is the only planet that sustains life. Life is possible on Earth because of many reasons, and the most important among them is the availability of water and oxygen. Earth is a part of the family of the Sun. It belongs to the Solar System.

Earth, along with seven other planets, revolves around the Sun. It takes roughly twenty-four hours to complete one rotation and 365 days and 4 hours to complete one revolution. Rotation and revolution make day and night and change of seasons simultaneously possible. The five seasons we experience in one revolution are Spring, Summer, Monsoon, Autumn, and Winter.

However, we are misusing resources and exploiting the natural gifts that have been so heavily endowed upon us. Overuse and misuse of all the natural resources are causing pollution to such an extent that it has become alarming to the point of destruction. The most common form of pollution caused upon the earth by us is Air Pollution, Land Pollution, Water Pollution, and Noise Pollution.

This, in turn, had resulted in Ozone Layer Depletion and Global Warming. Due to ozone layer depletion, there harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun are reaching the earth. It, in turn, is melting glaciers and causing a rise in temperature every year. Many animals have either extinct or are endangered due to human activities.

Some extinct animals worldwide are Sabre-toothed Cat, Woolly Mammoth, Dodo, Great Auk, Stellers Sea Cow, Tasmanian Tiger, Passenger Pigeon, Pyrenean Ibex. The extinct animals in the Indian subcontinent are the Indian Cheetah, pink-headed duck, northern Sumatran rhinoceros, and Sunderban dwarf rhinoceros.

The endangered animals that are in need of our immediate attention in India are Royal Bengal Tiger, Snow leopard, Red panda, Indian rhinoceros, Nilgiri tahr, Asiatic lion, Ganges river dolphin, Gharial and Hangul, among others. We have exploited fossil fuels to such an extent that now we run the risk of using them completely. We must switch to alternative sources of energy that are nature friendly. Solar power, windmills, hydra power should be used more often, and deforestation must be made illegal worldwide.

We must come together to preserve the natural environment. Conversation, reduction, reuse and recycling of the resources will take us a long way in rebuilding the natural habitat. We are as unique as our planet earth. We have higher intelligence, and we must use it for the well-being of all living organisms. The Earth is our natural abode, and we must make a place as close to Paradise, if not better.

Hopefully, after going through this lesson, you have a holistic idea about our planet Earth. I have tried to cover every aspect that makes it unique and the reasons to practise conversation of natural resources. If you still have any doubts regarding this session, kindly let me know through the comment section below. To read more such essays on many important topics, keep browsing our website. 

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Essay on Save Earth: Samples in 100, 150 and 200 Words

• Updated on  
• Nov 11, 2023

There is a popular saying that goes, ’You don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Well, then why harm the planet that is providing for you?’ We all should know that our planet Earth is the only planet where life can exist. Our planet provides us with basic necessities such as water, air, food to eat, and much more. So if you want to save our planet Earth for yourself and for the coming future generations then do give this blog a read. Today we will be talking about how you can save your planet Earth by taking all the required measures. We have also listed some sample essay on Save Earth which will help you to talk about the same in public. 

Table of Contents

• 1 Why is Saving Earth so Important?
• 2 Essay on Save Earth in 100 Words
• 3 Essay on Save Earth in 150 Words
• 4 Essay on Save Earth in 200 Words

Why is Saving Earth so Important?

Our planet Earth is the only planet that provides us with raw materials, oxygen, food which we need for fuel, and other essential materials.  

There are a number of reasons why saving the Earth is so important:

• Our Earth is the only planet that supports life. Despite signs of organic molecules and water on other planets and moons, life is only known to exist on Earth. There would be nowhere else for us to go if not Earth.
• Our Earth provides us with basic necessities such as medicine, food, clean water, and air to breathe. 
• The combustion of fossil fuels releases harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which traps heat and warms the earth. Rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and more extreme weather events are just a few of the negative effects of climate change that are already being felt.

Also Read: Essay on Social Issues

Essay on Save Earth in 100 Words

The only planet in the cosmos that is known to sustain life is Earth. Since it is our home, we must take care of it.

There are numerous reasons why protecting the planet is crucial. To begin with, it is our only place of residence. There won’t be somewhere else for us to go if we destroy Earth. Second, Earth gives us food, water, air, and shelter—everything we require to survive. Third, a wide variety of biodiversity exists on Earth, which is vital to human health.

Unfortunately, the health of Earth is being threatened by human activity. Among the difficulties we confront are deforestation, pollution, and climate change.

To save the Earth, we can all do our part. Here are some actions you may take:

• Cut back on the use of fossil fuels. Make more of an effort to walk or bike, drive less, and take public transit wherever you can.
• Make the switch to alternative energy sources like wind and solar energy.
• At home, use less energy and water.
• Reduce trash via composting and recycling.
• Encourage companies and groups that are engaged in environmental protection.

Both our own life and the survival of future generations depend on saving the planet. We can contribute to ensuring that our planet is healthy and habitable for many years to come by acting now.

Also Read: Essay on Save Environment: Samples in 100, 200, 300 Words

Essay on Save Earth in 150 Words

Since the Earth is our home, it is up to us to preserve it. However, the health of the planet is in danger due to human activity. Among the difficulties we confront are deforestation, pollution, and climate change.

The most important environmental issue of our day is climate change. Greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere, which causes the earth to warm. Among the detrimental repercussions of climate change that are already being felt are rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and an increase in extreme weather occurrences.

Pollution poses a serious threat to Earth as well. Among the materials we use to damage the air, water, and land are chemicals, plastics, and trash. Not only can pollution harm humans and wildlife, but it can also ruin ecosystems.

Deforestation is another issue. In this, the trees are removed and instead, buildings are constructed.  Forests filter water in addition to providing habitat for species and regulating the climate. Deforestation is one of the primary causes of both climate change and biodiversity loss.

We must take action to safeguard Earth from these threats. We can potentially reduce our carbon footprint by switching to renewable energy sources and consuming less energy. We can also reduce pollution by using less plastic, recycling, and composting. We can also safeguard forests by planting trees and promoting sustainable forestry practices.

Preserving the planet is essential for our own existence as well as that of future generations. To keep our world safe, each of us has a responsibility.

Also Read: Essay on Unity in Diversity in 100 to 200 Words

Also Read: How to Prepare for UPSC in 6 Months?

Essay on Save Earth in 200 Words

The only planet in the solar system where humanity can survive is Earth. Since our planet gives us access to fundamental essentials like clean water, fresh air, and food to eat, it is our duty as humans to make sure that it is habitable for future generations.

We can see that, among all the urgent problems, one of the most significant ones that affect humanity is climate change. Among the detrimental repercussions of climate change that are already being felt are rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and an increase in extreme weather occurrences.

Pollution is another major problem. The majority of the materials that are key to pollution of the air, water, and land are harmful chemicals, plastics that are carelessly thrown away, and other materials. This is not only harmful to humans and wildlife but also to the environment. 

Deforestation is the third main issue; it is the removal of trees for construction or other purposes, like agriculture. One of the main contributors to both climate change and biodiversity loss is deforestation. Consequently, we need to act to defend Earth from these dangers. 

We hope this essay on Save Earth helped you with some knowledge of some of the pressing issues we face on a daily basis and what we can do to save our planet. 

Related Articles

We can conserve the globe by avoiding contamination of the Earth and its natural resources, including the air and water.

Reducing carbon emissions is the first step towards saving our planet. This can be done by using environmentally friendly resources, conserving water and following the Reduce, Reuse and Recycling practices.

Clearing forest areas for agricultural, human settlement or any other commercial activities is known as deforestation.

For more information on such interesting topics, visit our essay-writing page and follow Leverage Edu ! 

Malvika Chawla

Malvika is a content writer cum news freak who comes with a strong background in Journalism and has worked with renowned news websites such as News 9 and The Financial Express to name a few. When not writing, she can be found bringing life to the canvasses by painting on them.

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Home — Essay Samples — Science — Earth Science — The Beauty of Earth: An Essay on the Magnificence of Our Planet

The Beauty of Earth: an Essay on The Magnificence of Our Planet

• Categories: Earth Science

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Words: 598 |

Published: Mar 8, 2024

Words: 598 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

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The natural wonders of earth, the diverse inhabitants of earth, preserving the beauty of earth.

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What is Earth?

Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest planet in the solar system in terms of size and mass. Its near-surface environments are the only places in the universe known to harbour life.

Where is Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy?

Earth is located in the Orion-Cygnus Arm, one of the four spiral arms of the Milky Way , which lies about two-thirds of the way from the centre of the Galaxy.

What is Earth named for?

Earth’s name in English, the international language of astronomy , derives from Old English and Germanic words for ground and earth , and it is the only name for a planet of the solar system that does not come from Greco-Roman mythology.

What was Earth like when it was first formed?

Earth and the other planets in the solar system formed about 4.6 billion years ago. The early Earth had no ozone layer and no free oxygen, lacked oceans, and was very hot.

Viewed from another planet, Earth would appear bright and bluish in colour. In latitudinal belts, swirling white cloud patterns of midlatitude and tropical storms can be seen. The polar regions would appear white because of ice, the oceans a dark blue-black, the deserts a tawny beige, and forests and jungles a vibrant green.

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Earth , third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest planet in the solar system in terms of size and mass. Its single most outstanding feature is that its near-surface environments are the only places in the universe known to harbour life. It is designated by the symbol ♁. Earth’s name in English , the international language of astronomy , derives from Old English and Germanic words for ground and earth , and it is the only name for a planet of the solar system that does not come from Greco-Roman mythology. Earth is part of the " observable universe ," the region of space that humans can actually or theoretically observe with the aid of technology . Unlike the observable universe, the universe is possibly infinite .

Since the Copernican revolution of the 16th century, at which time the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus proposed a Sun-centred model of the universe ( see heliocentric system ), enlightened thinkers have regarded Earth as a planet like the others of the solar system. Concurrent sea voyages provided practical proof that Earth is a globe, just as Galileo ’s use of his newly invented telescope in the early 17th century soon showed various other planets to be globes as well. It was only after the dawn of the space age, however, when photographs from rockets and orbiting spacecraft first captured the dramatic curvature of Earth’s horizon , that the conception of Earth as a roughly spherical planet rather than as a flat entity was verified by direct human observation. Humans first witnessed Earth as a complete orb floating in the inky blackness of space in December 1968 when Apollo 8 carried astronauts around the Moon . Robotic space probes on their way to destinations beyond Earth, such as the Galileo and the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft in the 1990s, also looked back with their cameras to provide other unique portraits of the planet.

Viewed from another planet in the solar system, Earth would appear bright and bluish in colour. Easiest to see through a large telescope would be its atmospheric features, chiefly the swirling white cloud patterns of midlatitude and tropical storms , ranged in roughly latitudinal belts around the planet . The polar regions also would appear a brilliant white, because of the clouds above and the snow and ice below. Beneath the changing patterns of clouds would appear the much darker blue-black oceans, interrupted by occasional tawny patches of desert lands. The green landscapes that harbour most human life would not be easily seen from space. Not only do they constitute a modest fraction of the land area, which itself is less than one-third of Earth’s surface, but they are often obscured by clouds . Over the course of the seasons, some changes in the storm patterns and cloud belts on Earth would be observed. Also prominent would be the growth and recession of the winter snowcap across land areas of the Northern Hemisphere.

Scientists have applied the full battery of modern instrumentation to studying Earth in ways that have not yet been possible for the other planets; thus, much more is known about its structure and composition . This detailed knowledge, in turn, provides deeper insight into the mechanisms by which planets in general cool down, by which their magnetic fields are generated, and by which the separation of lighter elements from heavier ones as planets develop their internal structure releases additional energy for geologic processes and alters crustal compositions .

Earth’s surface is traditionally subdivided into seven continental masses: Africa , Antarctica , Asia , Australia , Europe , North America , and South America . These continents are surrounded by five major bodies of water: the Arctic , Atlantic , Indian , Pacific , and Southern oceans. However, it is convenient to consider separate parts of Earth in terms of concentric, roughly spherical layers. Extending from the interior outward, these are the core, the mantle, the crust (including the rocky surface), the hydrosphere (predominantly the oceans , which fill in low places in the crust), the atmosphere (itself divided into spherical zones such as the troposphere , where weather occurs, and the stratosphere , where lies the ozone layer that shields Earth’s surface and its organisms against the Sun ’s ultraviolet rays), and the magnetosphere (an enormous region in space where Earth’s magnetic field dominates the behaviour of electrically charged particles coming from the Sun).

Knowledge about these divisions is summarized in this astronomically oriented overview. The discussion complements other treatments oriented to the Earth sciences and life sciences. Earth’s figure and dimensions are discussed in the article geodesy . Its magnetic field is treated in the article geomagnetic field . The early evolution of the solid Earth and its atmosphere and oceans is covered in geologic history of Earth . The geologic and biological development of Earth, including its surface features and the processes by which they are created and modified, are discussed in geochronology , continental landform , and plate tectonics . The behaviour of the atmosphere and of its tenuous , ionized outer reaches is treated in atmosphere , while the water cycle and major hydrologic features are described in hydrosphere , ocean , and river . The solid Earth as a field of study is covered in geologic sciences , the methods and instruments employed to investigate Earth’s surface and interior are discussed in Earth exploration , and the history of the study of Earth from antiquity to modern times is surveyed in Earth sciences . The global ecosystem of living organisms and their life-supporting stratum are detailed in biosphere .

Planet Earth, explained

Our home planet provides us with life and protects us from space.

Earth, our home planet, is a world unlike any other. The third planet from the sun, Earth is the only place in the known universe confirmed to host life.

With a radius of 3,959 miles, Earth is the fifth largest planet in our solar system, and it's the only one known for sure to have liquid water on its surface. Earth is also unique in terms of monikers. Every other solar system planet was named for a Greek or Roman deity, but for at least a thousand years, some cultures have described our world using the Germanic word “earth,” which means simply “the ground.”

Our dance around the sun

Earth orbits the sun once every 365.25 days. Since our calendar years have only 365 days, we add an extra leap day every four years to account for the difference.

Though we can't feel it, Earth zooms through its orbit at an average velocity of 18.5 miles a second. During this circuit, our planet is an average of 93 million miles away from the sun, a distance that takes light about eight minutes to traverse. Astronomers define this distance as one astronomical unit (AU), a measure that serves as a handy cosmic yardstick.

Earth rotates on its axis every 23.9 hours, defining day and night for surface dwellers. This axis of rotation is tilted 23.4 degrees away from the plane of Earth's orbit around the sun, giving us seasons. Whichever hemisphere is tilted closer to the sun experiences summer, while the hemisphere tilted away gets winter. In the spring and fall, each hemisphere receives similar amounts of light. On two specific dates each year—called the equinoxes—both hemispheres get illuminated equally.

Many layers, many features

About 4.5 billion years ago, gravity coaxed Earth to form from the gaseous, dusty disk that surrounded our young sun. Over time, Earth's interior—which is made mostly of silicate rocks and metals—differentiated into four layers.

At the planet's heart lies the inner core, a solid sphere of iron and nickel that's 759 miles wide and as hot as 9,800 degrees Fahrenheit. The inner core is surrounded by the outer core, a 1,400-mile-thick band of iron and nickel fluids. Beyond the outer core lies the mantle, a 1,800-mile-thick layer of viscous molten rock on which Earth's outermost layer, the crust, rests. On land, the continental crust is an average of 19 miles thick, but the oceanic crust that forms the seafloor is thinner—about three miles thick—and denser.

Like Venus and Mars, Earth has mountains, valleys, and volcanoes. But unlike its rocky siblings, almost 70 percent of Earth's surface is covered in oceans of liquid water that average 2.5 miles deep. These bodies of water contain 97 percent of Earth's volcanoes and the mid-ocean ridge , a massive mountain range more than 40,000 miles long.

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Earth's crust and upper mantle are divided into massive plates that grind against each other in slow motion. As these plates collide, tear apart, or slide past each other, they give rise to our very active geology. Earthquakes rumble as these plates snag and slip past each other. Many volcanoes form as seafloor crust smashes into and slides beneath continental crust. When plates of continental crust collide, mountain ranges such as the Himalaya are pushed toward the skies.

Protective fields and gases

Earth's atmosphere is 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and one percent other gases such as carbon dioxide, water vapor, and argon. Much like a greenhouse, this blanket of gases absorbs and retains heat. On average, Earth's surface temperature is about 57 degrees Fahrenheit; without our atmosphere, it'd be zero degrees . In the last two centuries, humans have added enough greenhouse gases to the atmosphere to raise Earth's average temperature by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit . This extra heat has altered Earth's weather patterns in many ways .

The atmosphere not only nourishes life on Earth, but it also protects it: It's thick enough that many meteorites burn up before impact from friction, and its gases—such as ozone—block DNA-damaging ultraviolet light from reaching the surface. But for all that our atmosphere does, it's surprisingly thin. Ninety percent of Earth's atmosphere lies within just 10 miles of the planet's surface .

The silhouette of a woman is seen on a Norwegian island beneath the Northern Lights ( aurora borealis ).

We also enjoy protection from Earth's magnetic field, generated by our planet's rotation and its iron-nickel core. This teardrop-shaped field shields Earth from high-energy particles launched at us from the sun and elsewhere in the cosmos. But due to the field's structure, some particles get funneled to Earth's Poles and collide with our atmosphere, yielding aurorae, the natural fireworks show known by some as the northern lights.

Spaceship Earth

Earth is the planet we have the best opportunity to understand in detail—helping us see how other rocky planets behave, even those orbiting distant stars. As a result, scientists are increasingly monitoring Earth from space. NASA alone has dozens of missions dedicated to solving our planet's mysteries.

At the same time, telescopes are gazing outward to find other Earths. Thanks to instruments such as NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers have found more than 3,800 planets orbiting other stars, some of which are about the size of Earth , and a handful of which orbit in the zones around their stars that are just the right temperature to be potentially habitable. Other missions, such as the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, are poised to find even more.

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Formation of Earth

Our planet began as part of a cloud of dust and gas. It has evolved into our home, which has an abundance of rocky landscapes, an atmosphere that supports life, and oceans filled with mysteries.

Chemistry, Earth Science, Astronomy, Geology

Manicouagan Crater

Asteroids were not only important in Earth's early formation, but have continued to shape our planet. A five-kilometer (three-mile) diameter asteroid is theorized to have formed the Manicouagan Crater about 215.5 million years ago.

We live on Earth’s hard, rocky surface, breathe the air that surrounds the planet , drink the water that falls from the sky, and eat the food that grows in the soil. But Earth did not always exist within this expansive universe, and it was not always a hospitable haven for life. Billions of years ago, Earth, along with the rest of our solar system, was entirely unrecognizable, existing only as an enormous cloud of dust and gas. Eventually, a mysterious occurrence—one that even the world’s foremost scientists have yet been unable to determine—created a disturbance in that dust cloud, setting forth a string of events that would lead to the formation of life as we know it. One common belief among scientists is that a distant star collapsed, creating a supernova explosion, which disrupted the dust cloud and caused it to pull together. This formed a spinning disc of gas and dust, known as a solar nebula . The faster the cloud spun, the more the dust and gas became concentrated at the center, further fueling the speed of the nebula . Over time, the gravity at the center of the cloud became so intense that hydrogen atoms began to move more rapidly and violently. The hydrogen protons began fusing, forming helium and releasing massive amounts of energy. This led to the formation of the star that is the center point of our solar system—the sun—roughly 4.6 billion years ago. Planet Formation The formation of the sun consumed more than 99 percent of the matter in the nebula . The remaining material began to coalesce into various masses. The cloud was still spinning, and clumps of matter continued to collide with others. Eventually, some of those clusters of matter grew large enough to maintain their own gravitational pull, which shaped them into the planets and dwarf planets that make up our solar system today. Earth is one of the four inner, terrestrial planets in our solar system. Just like the other inner planets —Mercury, Venus, and Mars—it is relatively small and rocky. Early in the history of the solar system, rocky material was the only substance that could exist so close to the Sun and withstand its heat. In Earth's Beginning At its beginning, Earth was unrecognizable from its modern form. At first, it was extremely hot, to the point that the planet likely consisted almost entirely of molten magma . Over the course of a few hundred million years, the planet began to cool and oceans of liquid water formed. Heavy elements began sinking past the oceans and magma toward the center of the planet . As this occurred, Earth became differentiated into layers, with the outermost layer being a solid covering of relatively lighter material while the denser, molten material sunk to the center. Scientists believe that Earth, like the other inner planets , came to its current state in three different stages. The first stage, described above, is known as accretion, or the formation of a planet from the existing particles within the solar system as they collided with each other to form larger and larger bodies. Scientists believe the next stage involved the collision of a proto planet with a very young planet Earth. This is thought to have occurred more than 4.5 billion years ago and may have resulted in the formation of Earth’s moon. The final stage of development saw the bombardment of the planet with asteroids . Earth’s early atmosphere was most likely composed of hydrogen and helium . As the planet changed, and the crust began to form, volcanic eruptions occurred frequently. These volcanoes pumped water vapor, ammonia, and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere around Earth. Slowly, the oceans began to take shape, and eventually, primitive life evolved in those oceans. Contributions from Asteroids Other events were occurring on our young planet at this time as well. It is believed that during the early formation of Earth, asteroids were continuously bombarding the planet , and could have been carrying with them an important source of water. Scientists believe the asteroids that slammed into Earth, the moon, and other inner planets contained a significant amount of water in their minerals, needed for the creation of life. It seems the asteroids , when they hit the surface of Earth at a great speed, shattered, leaving behind fragments of rock. Some suggest that nearly 30 percent of the water contained initially in the asteroids would have remained in the fragmented sections of rock on Earth, even after impact. A few hundred million years after this process—around 2.2 billion to 2.7 billion years ago—photosynthesizing bacteria evolved . They released oxygen into the atmosphere via photosynthesis and, in a few hundred million years, were able to change the composition of the atmosphere into what we have today. Our modern atmosphere is comprised of 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen, among other gases, which enables it to support the many lives residing within it.

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Geography Notes

Essay on the earth: top 8 essays on earth.

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Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Earth’ for class 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Earth’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Earth

Essay Contents:

• Essay on the Energy Intercepted by the Earth

Essay # 1. Origin of the Earth :

The earth came into existence between 5000 to 6000 million years ago from condensed form of a cloud of gases. By studying the hot, luminous gases of the sun, we find that sun is made of the same basic elements that are found by chemical analysis of earth’s material. In fact all the stars which have been studied seem to have the same elements.

Origin of Continents and Basins :

At present the crust of the earth is largely made up of two different kinds of materials of rocks called granite and basalt. The average specific gravity of the earth is 5.5 while that of granite and basalt is 2.7 and 3.0, respectively. Granite is typically found in continental areas and the ocean floors are made of basalt.

If rafts of basalt and granite could be imagined as floating on a very heavy plastic material, the elevation of continents could be imagined as being due to the lower specific gravity of granite in the continents and the greater specific gravity in the basins.

We do not know just how the surface of the crust became separate into granite and basaltic sectors. One theory is that while the earth was still liquid, masses of granite, like flocks of foam, floated in a still liquid basaltic sea.

When the crust was solidified, the granite masses projected to form the continents. Another hypothesis holds that the continents have been growing throughout earth’s history by building of successive thick mountain ranges.

Essay # 2. Composition of the Earth :

The outer envelopes of the gaseous material surrounding the earth are called atmosphere. Under the atmosphere is our earth on which we live. That part of the earth, which is in the form of a land, is known as the earth’s crust. It also includes the highest peaks of mountains and floors of the oceans. Part of the land, which is visible on the Globe, is called the Lithosphere (Greek, Litho = Stone).

We know that nearly 75 per cent of the whole surface of the earth is covered with natural waters like oceans, seas, lakes, rivers etc. Which is in the form of more or less, a continuous envelope around the earth.

This envelope of water is called Hydrosphere (Greek, Hudous = Water). Thus, Lithosphere and Hydrosphere in a combined form is known as the Earth’s crust. Under the Earth’s crust is the interior of the Earth. It is further sub-divided into three shells. Depending upon the nature, the material is made up as shown in the Fig. 1.1.

The earth is composed of different rocks. In an ordinary sense the term rock means something hard and resistant but the meaning of the word has been extended so as to include all natural substances of the Earth’s crust, which may be hard like granite or soft like clay and sand.

It has been estimated that 95 per cent of the Earth’s crust is made up of primary i.e., first formed (Igneous) rocks which is mostly composed of Granite having Quartz, Feldspar, Biotite mica and Hornblende in varying proportions the remaining 5 per cent of the crust is made up of Secondary (Sedimentary or Metamorphic) rocks (as shown in Fig. 1.2). The Earth’s crust is in the form of a very thin layer of solidified rocks and is heterogeneous in nature.

These rocks may be classified on the basis of their density into the following two groups:

1. Sial (Si = Silicon and A1 = Aluminium) having density 2.75 to 2.90.

2. Sima (Si = Silicon and Ma= Magnesium) having density 2.90 to 4.75.

It has been estimated that the Sial rocks are about 70 per cent of the Earth’s crust, which include chiefly Granite and Silica. These rocks are generally on the upper regions of the crust.

Sima rocks include heavy and dark coloured rocks like Basalts. In these rocks, the percentage of Silica is reduced and Magnesium attains the next importance in place of Aluminium of Sial rocks. These rocks are generally found on the floors of the Oceans and beneath Sial rocks.

It is the part of the earth below the crust and surrounding the core. The imaginary line that separates the lithosphere from the mantle is known as ‘Moho’ (Mohorovicic discontinuity). Because of high temperature and great pressure, the mineral matter in this part is the molten condition.

It is the innermost layer of the earth; it extends from below the mantle (Gutenberg discontinuity) to the central part of the earth.

On the basis of earthquake waves, the core has been further divided into two cores:

(a) Outer core.

(b) Inner core.

The outer core is 2,250 km thick and surrounds the core. It is believed that it is still in molten condition.

The inner core is also called ‘Nife’ because it consists of Nickel and iron. Its thickness is about 1,228 km. It is very hard in nature.

Essay # 3. Motions of the Earth :

The earth is held in space by combined gravitational attraction of sun and other heavenly bodies and has motions that are controlled by them.

The two principal motions of earth are:

1. Rotation of earth about its axis

2. Revolution of earth around sun

(i) Rotation :

The earth rotates upon an imaginary axis, which owing to the polar flattening is the shortest diameter. The earth rotates from west to east (in anti-clockwise direction) and it takes 24 hours to complete one rotation. During this period most of the places on the sphere are turned alternately towards and away from the sun, have experienced a period of light and darkness.

This causes day and night. This unit of time is called solar day. The direction of rotation (west to east) not only determines the direction in which the sun and stars rise but is also responsible for the direction of prevailing winds and ocean currents.

Importance of earth’s rotation :

The effects of the earth’s rotation are of great importance to the environment. The rotation indirectly accounts for the diurnal changes in weather such as warming up during daytime and cooling down at night. Thus the rotation affects diurnal rhythm, day light, air temperature, air humidity and air motion. Plants and animals respond to this diurnal rhythm. Green plants store energy during day and consume some part of heat during night.

Rotation of earth turns both air and water in one direction. The flow of air and water are turned towards right in the northern hemisphere towards left in the southern hemisphere. This phenomenon is called the coriolis effect. It is of great importance in studying the earth’s systems of winds and ocean currents.

(ii) Revolution :

The path of the earth around the sun is called orbit and the rotating earth revolves in a slightly elliptical orbit about the sun from which it keeps an average distance of 150 million km.

The time required for the earth to pass one complete orbit fixes the length of the year and this journey takes a few minutes less than 365 1/4 days (365.242 solar days). Earth revolves around the sun in anticlockwise direction. The rate of earth’s revolution is more than 1,06,260 km/hour.

Importance of revolution :

The rotation and revolution of earth are of great significance in meteorology. The rotation indirectly accounts for the diurnal changes in weather such as warming up during daytime and cooling down at night. Seasonal changes are dependent on the revolution of earth. When the earth is at perihelion (January 3), the sun is close to the earth, as a result greater intensity of solar radiation is received at the earth surface.

This position occurs during winter season. When the earth is at aphelion, the earth is farthest from sun, as a result the heat received at the earth surface is less. This occurs during summer season (July 4). However, the distance between sun and earth varies only about 3 per cent during one revolution.

As the earth moves forward in its orbit, its axis remains inclined at 23 1/2° from the perpendicular to the plane of the earth’s orbit. This tilt of 23 1/2° does not change throughout the year as the earth revolves around the sun.

It causes the change in seasons regularly through spring, summer, autumn and winter because of the inclination of the earth’s axis, constant direction of tilt of that axis and revolution of the earth around the sun.

Sidereal day :

The true rotation time is called sidereal day. It is denoted by ‘S’.

The number of hours, minutes and seconds in a sidereal day are given below:

Lengths of the day :

Earth receives solar radiation from the sun during day time. Day length can be defined as the total time between sunrise and sunset. Length of the day is partly controlled by the latitude of the earth and partly by the season of the year. The day length at the equator is about. 12 hours throughout the year, whereas at the poles it varies between 0 and 21 hours from winter to summer.

Solar radiation received at any location of the earth depends upon the day length. Maximum amount of solar radiation is received in the higher latitude during summer solstice because it is period of continuous day.

The amount of solar radiation received during the December solstice in southern hemisphere is theoretically greater than that received in the northern hemisphere during the June solstice. The equator has two radiation maxima at the equinoxes and two minima at the solstices.

Length of the day plays an important role in the life cycle of the crop plants. In fact, day length indicates the photoperiod available for the growth of the crop plants. Every plant requires different photoperiod for the initiation of flowering. On the basis of day length, plants can be divided into different categories. The plants which require less than 10 hours day length, are called short day plants.

If the requirement of the plants is greater than 14 hours day length, then these are called long day plants. In between these two types, there are intermediate plants, which require photoperiod of 12 – 14 hours. However, the plants which are not affected by day length, are called day neutral plants.

Essay # 4. Movement of the Earth:

Many changes on the crust of the earth can be seen as a result of the works of internal forces in the earth’s interior. The works of internal forces are generally called earth movement. Sometimes, the earth movement may be very very slow and sometimes it may be sudden.

It is believed that originally the landmasses were united together in the form of a great landmass known as Pangaea. In course of time the Pangaea had broken into several pieces and drifted into different directions. The drifting is called Continental Drift and the theory was propounded by Alfred Wagner. The northern part of the landmass was known as Laurasia.

Eventually it had broken down to form North America, Europe and Asia. About 120 million years ago, the southern part of India, East Africa, Madagascar, Australia, South Africa, South America and the Antarctica were together and formed the single landmass known as ‘Gondwana land’. The ‘Gondwana land’ started breaking into several pieces and India took its present shape about 60 million years ago.

During the last million years, the Himalayas had risen to its present height due to earth movements. Similarly, it has been proved that the Aravallies and the Vindhyas in the middle of India were once at the bottom of the sea.

The forested areas near Bombay harbour, the Mahabalipuram temple in the sea, submergence of a vast area of nearly 5000 sq km in the Runn of Kutch during 1819 and a land of about 1500 sq km raised to a height of several metres, are some of the results of the earth movement.

The earth movements which bring about vast changes are called Tectonic movements. It has been already mentioned that earth movements may be very slow and sudden.

Slow Movements :

The slow movements of the earth’s crust are due to various chemical and physical reactions that take place at the earth’s interior. The movement may be so slow that its result may not be seen on the surface during 100 to 200 years.

The raising of the eastern coastal plain up to a height of 15-30 metres, the existence of coal beds below the sea level in the Sundarban Delta, the existence of a forest near the Bombay harbour and submergence of a vast area in the Runn of Kutch are some of the Indian examples of slow earth movement.

A change in sea level in its advance or retreat with respect to adjacent land is relative to each other. When the sea advances to land, it is generally called a Positive Movement and the land advancing against the sea is known as Negative Movement.

On the basis of the structural changes that are caused by the tectonic movement, the earth movements may be grouped into two classes:

(i) Vertical or Epeirogenic Movement

(ii) Horizontal or Orogenic Movement.

Vertical Movement :

Due to earth movement some parts of earth surface may be raised or sunk with respect to the surrounding areas. This type of movement is known as Vertical Movement. When a part of the earth’s crust is raised in relation to its surrounding area, it is known as uplift. In the same way when a portion is sunk in relation to its surrounding areas, it is called subsidence.

Earth movement of this type, when takes place over extensive area generally leads to the building up of continents and Plateaus. That is why, this type of movement is also known as Epeirogenic movement or Continent building movement. As a result of their movement, the horizontal arrangement of the earth’s crust remains almost undisturbed.

Millions of years ago there used to be a continent where we find Atlantic Ocean today. In the beginning of the earth’s history such movements had been more frequent and the present-day arrangement of the continents might have been the result of this movement.

Horizontal Movement :

The forces of horizontal movement affect tangentially. It involves both the forces of compression and tension. These two types of movements are related to each other. Compression in one part of the crust is bound to produce tension at another place. The compression leads to the bending of horizontal layers into a shape known as fold.

The tension is responsible for breaking of rock layers with subsequent sliding or displacement. It is known as fault. The processes of making folds and faults are known as folding and faulting.

When two horizontal forces act towards a common point from opposite directions folding takes place. Deep within the earth, this force tends to cause bending of rock strata. Like seawaves, rocks are thrown into upfolds and downfolds. The upfolds are called anticlines and the downfolds are known as synclines.

When two forces act horizontally in opposite directions from a common point, it generates tension and the process is known as faulting. As a result, the rocks break along a line which is known as fault line. The faulted rocks may be thrown upwards or slided downwards.

The mountains over the surface of the earth owe their origin to the process of folding and faulting. That is why, the horizontal movement is also known as orogenic or mountain building movement. The Himalayas on the northern border of India, the Alps of Europe, the Rockies of the North America and the Andes of South America are some of the newly folded mountain ranges of the world.

Aravallies, Ural, Tiensan and Appalachia are some of the old folded mountains of the world. Similarly, the Black Forest of Germany, the Voges of France, the Vindhyas and the Satpura of India are some of the examples of fault or block mountains of the world.

Plate Tectonics :

Plate tectonics is the most modern theory about the formation of folded mountains. According to this theory, the world has been divided into six major plates and several smaller plates. Each of the plates is composed of crust up to a depth of 100 km from the surface of the earth.

Due to the forces at the earth’s interior, these plates are moving in different directions. As a result of rubbing of the two plates, the folded mountains have been formed at the edges of the plates.

The six major plates are:

(1) Pacific Plate

(2) North American Plate

(3) South American Plate

(4) African Plate

(5) Eurasian Plate

(6) Indo-Australian Plate.

The smaller plates are:

(a) China Plate

(d) Nazca Plate

(c) Cocos Plate

(b) Antarctic Plate

(e) Caribbean Plate

Where plates separate and new ocean floor is created, mid-ocean ridges are the boundaries. The plates are rigid. Their boundaries are marked by earthquakes and often by volcanoes. Where plates collide and overlap, young mountains, arcs and trenches are the boundaries.

Sudden Movement :

Sudden movement of the earth crust can be noticed during earthquake. Some parts of the land surface of New Zealand were raised by about 3 metres during the earthquake of 1885. Similarly, some areas of Japan sank by about 6 metres during 1891 earthquake. Recently, during the earthquake of 1950, the bed of the Brahmaputra River had been raised leading to various changes in the valley.

Essay # 5. Interior of the Earth :

To know exactly about the interior of the earth is more difficult than that of taking photograph of other planets with the help of satellites or by walking on the surface of the moon. It has not been possible till today to collect direct evidences about the structure of the earth.

However, geographers and geologists have collected indirect evidences about the structures and composition. On the average, the radius from the centre to the surface of the earth is 6320 km but, the deepest mine in the world in South Africa is about only 4 km deep and man could dig up to a maximum depth of 6 km in search of oil.

In other words, man has been able to get direct evidences about the structure and composition of the earth’s interior up-to a depth not more than 5 to 6 km from the surface.

The knowledge beyond this limit is based primarily on indirect scientific evidences. The indirect evidences are based on temperature and pressure inside the earth, density of materials and behaviour of earthquake waves. Still uncertainty persists. On the basis of the different scientific observations it has been concluded that there exists different layers inside the earth.

Temperature and Pressure of the Earth’s Interior :

The hot and molten lava, ash, smoke that come out at the time of volcanic eruption as well as the hot water springs are some of the evidences which confirm that interior of the earth is having a very high temperature. It has been found from mining operations also that the temperature increases at the average rate of 1°C per 32 metres depth.

At this rate of increase of temperature, the rocks at great depth of the earth’s interior should be in molten state. Actually, this was the view earlier that the crust of the earth is floating on a massive molten materials.

But, the study of earthquake waves has indicated that the temperature does not increase uniformly from the surface to the centre of the earth. The rate of increase in temperature is not uniform. Scientists also have proved that the main reasons of increase in temperature are the fusion of radio-active materials and other chemical reactions. The tremendous pressure from the overlaying materials makes the melting point higher.

On the basis of this, in upper 100 km, increase of temperature is estimated to be 12°C per km; in the next 300 km it is 2°C per km and below it 1°C per km. At this rate the temperature at the core of the earth is estimated to be 6000°C.

At this temperature, the materials in the central part of the earth’s interior should have been at gaseous state but due to tremendous pressure from the outer layers, the materials assume liquid properties and acquire properties of solid or plastic state. Therefore, the earth behaves mostly as solid down to a depth of 2900 km because of tremendous pressure.

Density and Composition of the Earth’s Interior :

By studying the speed and path of earthquake waves, temperature and pressure conditions inside the earth, scientists are of the opinion that the physical properties, density and composition of the materials are different at varying depths. The structure of the earth is therefore layered. The earth consists of three layers, one inside the other like an onion. They are the crust, the mantle and the core.

The topmost layer of the earth is solid, the thinnest, and the lightest and is known as Lithosphere. The lithosphere has again two layers-outer part immediately below the newer sedimentary formation, popularly known as crust and the inner part of greater strength. The crust of the earth is composed of sedimentary and granitic rocks.

The inner layer of lithosphere has basaltic and ultra-basic rocks. While the outer layer of lithosphere is found mainly under continents, the inner layer is found partly under oceans. The average density of lithosphere is 2.65 to 2.90. ‘Silica’ and ‘Aluminium’ are abundant. Therefore, it is popularly known as SIAL (Silica + Aluminium). The average thickness is 8 to 100 km.

Below this top layer is the layer of basalt rock which is heavier than the topmost layer. The density varies from 3.1 to 5.00. It assumes the properties of solid and partly plastic materials. The average thickness of this layer is 100 to 2900 km. In this layer, Silica and Magnesium elements predominate and it is popularly known as SIMA (Silica + Magnesium).

The SIMA also has two layers—Inner silicate layer at the top with average thickness of 100 to 1700 km and Transitional zone of mixed metals and silicates with an average thickness of 1700 to 2900 km. These two SIMA layers are also known as MANTLE. The surface that separates crust and mantle is known as Mohorovicic Discontinuity or simply MOHO.

Finally, the innermost layer exists at the central core of the earth with density 5.1 to 13.00. It is composed of the heaviest mineral materials. This central mass is mainly made of ‘nickel’ and ‘iron’ therefore known as NIFE (Nickel + Ferrous). The core contains 1/3 of the entire mass of the earth.

The materials of this part may be in liquid, plastic or even solid state due to tremendous pressure from above. It has also two layers-outer metallic core with average thickness of 2900 to 4980 km and inner metallic core between 4980 to 6400 km. The inner metallic core is also known as Barysphere (Fig. 2.4).

The three layers of the earth have been called by different geologists in different manners. German scientist Gracht called them SIAL, SIMA and NIFE. Jeffrey called them as Top, Middle and Lower layers while Professor Holmes called them the Crust, the Substratum and the Core. The relationship has been mentioned in Table 2.2.

From Table 2.2, it can be estimated that crust of the earth forms less than 1 per cent; mantle 16 per cent and 83 per cent makes the core. The earth being a spherical body has materials of varying densities at varying depths.

Materials of the Earth’s Crust :

The word ‘Lithosphere’ means a sphere of rocks. The upper portion of lithosphere is referred to as the crust of the earth. Down to depth of nearly 16 km from the surface under the continents, 95 per cent of the materials that form the crust consist of rocks and the rest 5 per cent minerals.

The term rock refers to hard masses of earth’s crust as well as loose and soft particles like sand and clay. The rocks are formed of the mixture of various minerals. All rocks do not have same chemical composition and structure.

But, every mineral has its own chemical composition and physical properties. The minerals generally occur in the form of crystals. The rocks and minerals are generally composed of certain chemical elements like oxygen, silica, aluminium, iron and calcium, etc.

Each mineral usually contains two or more simple substances called elements. There are about 2000 minerals but only 12 are common all over the earth. These 12 minerals are basically responsible for the formation of rocks.

Mineral may be defined as a naturally occurring non-living solid substance possessing certain physical properties and definite chemical composition. The minerals may be either elements or compounds and also metallic or non-metallic.

The most abundant elements in nature are silicates, carbonates, chlorides, sulphates and oxides. As much as 87 per cent of the minerals of the earth’s crust are silicates and 59 per cent of the rocks are formed of the minerals of silica group.

The distribution of minerals in the earth’s crust is as follows (Table 2.3):

Minerals are of two types -Rock forming and Ore forming:

It is one of the most abundantly available minerals in earth’s crust. It has two elements— Silicon and Oxygen. They unite together to form a compound, known as carbonate of lime. It is transparent in its pure state. However, quartz may be of different colours when it is mixed up with other elements. Its hardness is 7, specific gravity 2.65. Quartz is hexagonal and its structure is SiO 2 (Silicon dioxide).

Feldspar is one of the important elements of rock and nearly 50 per cent of the earth’s crust is composed of feldspar. It is made of silicates of aluminium, potassium, sodium, calcium and oxygen. Feldspar is of two types—Orthoclase and Plagioclase.

Orthoclase has specific gravity of 2.57, its hardness is 6 and structure is Ca 2 SiO 4 (Calcium Silicate). The specific gravity of plagioclase feldspar is 2.60 to 2.74, hardness is 6 to 6.5 and the structural formula is Na 2 OAl 2 O 6 SiO 2 (Sodium Aluminium Silicate) and CaOAl 2 O 3 2SiO 2 (Calcium Aluminium Silicate).

Mica is formed of the elements of hydrogen, potassium, aluminium, magnesium, iron and silicon. Mica is of two types—Black Biotite and White Muscovite. Mica is found in thin sheets.

Its hardness is 2.5 to 3, specific gravity is 2.70 to 3 and the structural formulae are:

Black Biotite – (AlFe) 2 (MgFe) (HK) 2 (SiO 4 ) 3

White Muscovite – K 2 O 3 Al 2 O 3 6SiO 2 2H 2 O. (Potassium Aluminium Silicate)

Calcite is formed of the chemical composition of calcium, magnesium, carbon dioxide and oxygen. It is white in colour, it may take other colour also. Its hardness is 3, specific gravity 2.70 and structural formula is CaCO 3 (Calcium Carbonate).

Magnetite :

It is composed of Silicon, Iron and Oxygen. Its hardness is from 5.5 to 6.5 and specific gravity is 5.19. Magnetite is not transparent and chemical formula is Fe 3 O 4 (Ferros Ferric Oxide).

Haematite :

Haematite is also made up of Iron and Oxygen. Its hardness is 5.5 to 6.5, specific gravity is 4.9 to 5.3 and structural formula is Fe 2 O 3 (Ferric Oxide).

Graphite is another mineral made of carbon. Its hardness is 1.5 to 2, specific gravity is 2.15 and structural formula is C (Carbon).

In addition to the above, there are many other rock and ore forming minerals. The minerals that form with oxygen are called oxides. Quartz, Magnetite, Limonite (2Fe 2 O 3 ) 3 , (Ferric Oxide), Cromite (FeOCr 2 O 3 ), Alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) belong to oxide group.

The minerals that form of Calcium, Carbon and Oxygen are called carbonates. Calcite (CaCO 3 ) (Calcium Carbonate), Dolomite (CaMg) (Calcium Magnesium), Cidarite (FeCO 3 ) (Ferrous Carbonate) ‘etc.’ belong to this group. Mineral salt (NaCl) belong to chloride group and Gypsum (CaSO 4 2H 2 O) (Hydrated Calcium Sulphate) are of sulphate group.

The minerals that have only one element are known as Native Minerals, Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper, etc., belong to this group.

The Rocks :

In terms of origin, the rocks can be classified into two main varieties, namely, Igneous rocks and Sedimentary rocks. But when these rocks are subjected to prolonged fluctuations of temperature and pressure, they are transformed to a new variety which is termed as metamorphic rocks.

Essay # 6. Theories of the Earth:

There are several hypotheses about the origin of the universe and the earth. In 1755, German philosopher Immanuel Kant put forward a theory that a spherical mass of gas called Nebula was rotating and its size was like that of the sun.

Due to rotation and cooling through radiation, the outer portion became denser and rings were thrown out. In course of time, these rings condensed into planets while the remnant continues as the sun (Table 2.1).

In 1796, Laplace- a great French Mathematician supported the Nebular hypothesis. However, there are several criticisms against Laplace’s theory and the most important one is that rings cannot condense into planets.

Kelvin’s Nuclear clots Hypothesis and Chamberlin and Moulton’s Planetesimal Hypothesis are other two hypotheses relating to the origin of the earth. However, they also lack in certain aspects of acceptability.

Tidal Hypothesis :

Looking from different angles, the Tidal Hypothesis of Jean and Jeffreys – well-known scientist of England has been found to be more acceptable. According to this hypothesis, the sun was a big and extensive mass of gas moving in space. Once, another much larger star happened to come closer to the sun and due to gravitational pull of this star a tide occurred on the surface of the sun.

As a result, protuberances of material from the sun came out towards the approaching star and in course of time it gave birth to earth and other planets of the solar system (Fig. 2.1).

There are several points in favour of Jean and Jeffreys (Tidal Hypothesis):

(1) If the density of the sun increases from its surface towards the interior, it is quite natural that the protuberances come out from the surface like a filament having lesser density. Naturally, the protuberances produced by the passing star should have been thicker in the middle and thinner at both the ends. The arrangement of the planets in the solar system is also like a cigar-middle portion bigger and tapering towards the two ends.

When the passing star had gone far away, the filament has been broken into pieces and due to the gravitational force of the sun started rotating around the sun. The planets of bigger size in the middle and smaller size towards the two ends can be seen in Fig. 2.2. Mercury is the smallest and nearest to the sun, Jupiter, the largest is in the middle.

(2) The arrangement of the satellites of respective planet also confirms the validity of this hypothesis. Saturn, the second largest planet has the largest number of 18 satellites and Jupiter, the largest planet has 16 satellites. Uranus and Neptune have 17 and 8 satellites respectively.

(3) Lastly, on the basis of this hypothesis it can be seen that bigger planets remained in the gaseous state for a longer time and have helped in formation of more number of satellites than that of the smaller planets which condensed quickly and did not have scope for formation of satellites.

This hypothesis is also known as Hit and Run Hypothesis or Catastrophic Hypothesis or Tidal Action Hypothesis.

Tidal Disruption Theory :

The earth and planets and their satellites were all part of the sun or another sun like star at that time. There are many theories regarding the formation of the solar system and our earth. One is the tidal disruption theory by Jaans and Jeffereys. This theory states that in the beginning sun was hot and in a gaseous state.

A big star moved across, which caused the tidal disruption of hot gas and it left the sun with a revolving arm or a filament of hot gas, like a spiral nebula .The cooling of filament broke up the sun into masses which began to contract toward nuclei forming planets. The gaseous planets and their satellites continued to revolve as they did after the star passed away. Gradual cooling formed liquids and final solids.

The more volatile material of the earth remained in the gaseous state and formed our atmosphere, originally much deeper and of a higher temperature than now. As the atmosphere cooled, the water vapour condensed and formed clouds. As cooling continued, rain fell and oceans formed.

Steady State Theory:

Another theory which can be considered as alternative to the Big Bang Theory is the Steady State Theory. It is propounded by Hoyle. Here, Hoyle propounded that the Universe remained of the same size at any given point of time. However, this theory has been discarded after evidences of expanding universe.

Big Bang Theory :

Another recent and most convincing proposition regarding the origin of the universe including the planet earth is the Big Bang Theory or Expanding Universe Theory. Eduin Hubble provided evidence of expanding universe in 1920. The theory assumes that the universe began from huge mass of atoms called primeval atoms or cosmic eggs having a state of infinite density.

The universe initiated its origin 15 million years ago when a dense mass of material exploded in the so-called big bang. The explosion sent all of the materials of the universe outward in a cosmos that is still expanding. All of the galaxies, planets, asteroids, and other bodies in the universe were formed from the gas and dust of this extraordinary explosion.

This theory was put forward by an astronomer cum priest named George Lamaitre in 1927. It is felt that the expansion of the universe will continue for a long time. After that perhaps the expansion will slow down. At any point of time, if similar condition prevails the stimeval atoms may become active again and another explosion (big bang) may take place.

Although many scientists contributed to the development of this theory, it was George Gamow who coined the term Big Bang in 1946. Gamow with RA Alpher envisaged a high temperature state in the beginning of the universe.

Evolution of the Earth and Life forms :

The evolution of the earth can be described as follows in terms of various stages. In the initial stages the earth was barren, rocky and hot. It had thin layers of hydrogen and helium. During the period of 4000 million years till now the earth had been through several processes and life evolved.

From the top of the atmosphere to the centre of the earth different density materials have formed different layers. The process of separating denser materials from the lighter materials is called differentiation. The present atmosphere contains water vapour, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, methane and small quantity of oxygen. Plants are the major sources of oxygen on earth.

The oceans formed within 500 million years from the formation of the earth. Life began approximately 3000 million years ago. The process of photosynthesis began between 2500 and 3000 million years ago. The first life of the earth was confined to oceans in the form of small bacteria. The evolution of life from bacteria to modern man is shown by Geological Time Scale expressed in terms of Eons, Era, Period and Epoch.

Essay # 7. Numerical Facts about the Earth :

The earth is spherical in shape with a bulge at the middle and a slight flattening at the poles. The equatorial radius is 6374 km and the polar radius is 6357 km. The mean distance from the sun is 150 million km.

Continental Drift Theory :

The making of the continents began 200 million years ago (during the Persian period) with the split of gigantic landmass known as PANGEA. Two continents laurasia to the north and Gondwana to the south were formed. Later on, these were sub divided into smaller parts approximately the shapes of Africa, Eurasia North and South America, Australia and Antarctica as we know today. This theory is known as continental drift theory.

Continents and Oceans of the World :

During Persian period, outer surface of the earth was broken into 10 major and a number of minor sections called plates. It is on these plates that continents rest. The rifts between the plates were filled with molten material from the mantle pushing the plates to either side and farther and farther as the material continued to seep through. Since this material was heavier, it levelled off below sea level forming ocean floors as water from the pacific flowed in.

A continent is a large, continuous area of land on the earth. All continents together constitute less than one-third of the earth’s surface, more than two-third of the earth’s surface are covered with water. Two third of the continental land mass is located in the northern hemisphere.

There is no standard definition for the number of continents in the world. By most standards, there are a maximum of seven continents Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe, north America and south America. In Europe, many students are taught about six continents, where north and south America are considered to form one America.

Many geographers and scientists now refer to six continents, where Europe and Asia are combined, called Eurasia, because they are one solid land mass. By the definition of a continent as a large continuous area of land, the pacific islands of Oceania are not a continent, but one could say, they belong to a continent e.g. Oceania is sometimes associated with the continent of Australia.

Essay # 8. Energy Intercepted by the Earth :

Radius of the earth = r

Area of the earth = π r 2

Solar constant = S

Total energy intercepted by the earth in unit time = π r 2 S

= 6.37 x 10 21 cal day -1

Surface area of the earth = 4 π r 2

If this energy is spread uniformly over the full surface of earth, then the energy received per unit area per unit time (Q S ) can be given as follows:

But the distribution of solar radiation over the earth surface is not uniform, annual value at the equator is 2.4 times that at the poles. Incident solar energy at the surface depends upon geographic location, orientation of the surface, time of the day, time of the year and atmospheric conditions i.e. clear, cloudy, foggy etc..

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Essay on Importance of Earth

Students are often asked to write an essay on Importance of Earth in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Importance of Earth

The earth: our home.

Earth is our home planet, providing us with life-sustaining resources. It offers us water, air, food, and shelter, all necessary for our survival.

Source of Life

Provider of resources.

Earth provides us with natural resources like water, minerals, and plants. These resources are essential for our survival and development.

Importance of Preservation

Preserving Earth is crucial. We must protect it from harm, ensuring a safe and healthy environment for future generations.

250 Words Essay on Importance of Earth

The quintessential planet: earth, the life-sustaining sphere.

Earth’s unique position in the solar system, neither too close nor too far from the sun, enables it to maintain an ideal temperature for life. This ‘Goldilocks Zone’ allows for the existence of liquid water, a prerequisite for life as we know it. The planet’s magnetic field protects life from harmful solar radiation, further emphasizing Earth’s role as a life-sustaining sphere.

A Haven of Biodiversity

Earth is a haven of biodiversity, hosting millions of species, each playing a crucial role in the ecosystem. This biodiversity contributes to the planet’s resilience, allowing it to recover from disturbances. Moreover, it provides us with a wealth of genetic material, which has potential applications in medicine, agriculture, and industry.

Earth’s crust is rich in resources, from metals to fossil fuels, which have been instrumental in human development. These resources have fueled technological advancements, enabling us to build civilizations, explore space, and connect globally.

In conclusion, Earth’s importance is undeniable. It is a life-supporting, biodiversity-rich, resource-providing planet. However, its finite resources and fragile ecosystems are under threat due to human activities. Therefore, it is imperative to understand and respect the value of Earth, ensuring its preservation for future generations.

500 Words Essay on Importance of Earth

The essence of earth.

The Earth, our home, is not just a physical entity with vast ecosystems and diverse species. It’s a complex, interconnected system that provides the fundamental necessities for life to thrive. Its importance is immeasurable, and its preservation is crucial for the survival and progress of humanity.

The Abode of Life

Earth is a rich reservoir of natural resources that sustain human civilization. The fertile soil nourishes our crops, the forests provide timber, and the minerals beneath the surface are used to create a multitude of products. The oceans, covering over 70% of the Earth’s surface, are a source of food, transportation, and even renewable energy. These resources are not just commodities; they are the building blocks of our society.

Climate and Weather Patterns

The Earth’s climate system plays a vital role in shaping life on our planet. The complex interplay of atmospheric, oceanic, and terrestrial processes results in a variety of weather patterns and climatic zones. These conditions influence the distribution of ecosystems and species, agricultural practices, and human settlements. Understanding how this system works is essential for predicting weather, managing natural disasters, and addressing climate change.

The Earth as a Teacher

The need for preservation.

In conclusion, Earth’s importance extends beyond its role as our home. It’s a life-giving entity, a provider of resources, a regulator of climate, and a source of knowledge. As we continue to explore the universe, we must remember that Earth remains our most important discovery. The preservation of Earth is not just an environmental issue; it’s a matter of survival and prosperity for all life forms.

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

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• EO Explorer

• Global Maps

A photo-essay from NASA’s Earth Science Division — February 2019 Download Earth in PDF , MOBI (Kindle), or ePub formats.

Of all celestial bodies within reach or view, as far as we can see, out to the edge, the most wonderful and marvelous and mysterious is turning out to be our own planet earth. There is nothing to match it anywhere, not yet anyway. —Lewis Thomas

Sixty years ago, with the launch of Explorer 1, NASA made its first observations of Earth from space. Fifty years ago, astronauts left Earth orbit for the first time and looked back at our “blue marble.” All of these years later, as we send spacecraft and point our telescopes past the outer edges of the solar system, as we study our planetary neighbors and our Sun in exquisite detail, there remains much to see and explore at home.

We are still just getting to know Earth through the tools of science. For centuries, painters, poets, philosophers, and photographers have sought to teach us something about our home through their art.

This book stands at an intersection of science and art. From its origins, NASA has studied our planet in novel ways, using ingenious tools to study physical processes at work—from beneath the crust to the edge of the atmosphere. We look at it in macrocosm and microcosm, from the flow of one mountain stream to the flow of jet streams. Most of all, we look at Earth as a system, examining the cycles and processes—the water cycle, the carbon cycle, ocean circulation, the movement of heat—that interact and influence each other in a complex, dynamic dance across seasons and decades.

We measure particles, gases, energy, and fluids moving in, on, and around Earth. And like artists, we study the light—how it bounces, reflects, refracts, and gets absorbed and changed. Understanding the light and the pictures it composes is no small feat, given the rivers of air and gas moving between our satellite eyes and the planet below.

For all of the dynamism and detail we can observe from orbit, sometimes it is worth stepping back and simply admiring Earth. It is a beautiful, awe-inspiring place, and it is the only world most of us will ever know.

NASA has a unique vantage point for observing the beauty and wonder of Earth and for making sense of it. Looking back from space, astronaut Edgar Mitchell once called Earth “a sparkling blue and white jewel,” and it does dazzle the eye. The planet’s palette of colors and textures and shapes—far more than just blues and whites—are spread across the pages of this book.

We chose these images because they inspire. They tell a story of a 4.5-billion-year-old planet where there is always something new to see. They tell a story of land, wind, water, ice, and air as they can only be viewed from above. They show us that no matter what the human mind can imagine, no matter what the artist can conceive, there are few things more fantastic and inspiring than the world as it already is. The truth of our planet is just as compelling as any fiction.

We hope you enjoy this satellite view of Earth. It is your planet. It is NASA’s mission.

Michael Carlowicz Earth Observatory Managing Editor

The astonishing thing about the Earth... is that it is alive.... Aloft, floating free beneath the moist, gleaming membrane of bright blue sky, is the rising Earth, the only exuberant thing in this part of the cosmos.... It has the organized, self-contained look of a live creature, full of information, marvelously skilled in handling the Sun. —Lewis Thomas, The Lives of a Cell

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. —T.S. Eliot, “Little Gidding”

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. —T.S. Eliot “Little Gidding”

Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books. —John Lubbock, The Use of Life

Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books. —John Lubbock The Use of Life

ice and snow

It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living. —David Attenborough

Imagery and data courtesy of:

• NASA Earth Observatory
• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA Landsat Program
• International Space Station (ISS) Crew Earth Observations Facility
• LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team
• MABEL Science Team
• Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive & Distribution System Distributed Active Archive Center (LAADS DAAC)
• EO-1 Science Team
• Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP)
• NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group
• NASA/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS/Japan ASTER Science Team

Adapted for the web by Paul Przyborski

About the Authors

Michael Carlowicz is managing editor of the NASA Earth Observatory. He has written about Earth science and geophysics since 1991 for several NASA divisions, the American Geophysical Union, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and in three popular science books. He is a baseball player and fan, a longtime singer and guitarist, and the proud father of three science and engineering majors.

Kathy Carroll supports the Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. She previously worked as a manager and organizer at for-profit and non-profit organizations and on political campaigns. She is a diehard baseball and hockey fan, and she volunteers with animal rescue organizations.

Lawrence Friedl directs the Applied Sciences Program in the Earth Science Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. He works to enable innovative and practical uses of data from Earth-observing satellites. He has worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and as a Space Shuttle flight controller in NASA’s Mission Control Center. He and his wife have three children, and he enjoys ultimate frisbee and hiking.

Stephen Schaeberle is a graphic designer with the Communications Support Services Center at NASA Headquarters. He holds a bachelor of fine arts from the Pratt Institute, and he has received numerous awards and honors for his work and designs. He enjoys boating and fishing on the Chesapeake Bay.

Kevin Ward manages NASA’s Earth Observatory Group, including the Earth Observatory, Visible Earth, NASA Earth Observations (NEO), and EONET. He holds a master’s degree in library and information science and has spent more than 20 years developing Web-accessible resources in support of NASA Earth science communications. He and his wife have a son and a deep love of music.

Acknowledgments

Just a few names end up on the title page of a book, but it takes an entire cast of people to bring it from idea to draft to finished product. The cast for Earth begins with Maxine Aldred, Andrew Cooke, Tun Hla, and Lisa Jirousek, who shepherded the words and images through design and layout. Thanks are also due to Kathryn Hansen, Pola Lem, Rebecca Lindsey, Holli Riebeek, Michon Scott, and Adam Voiland, whose reporting and writing contributions gave this book its depth. Joshua Stevens, Robert Simmon, Jesse Allen, Jeff Schmaltz, Michael Taylor, and Norman Kuring applied their strong visual sense and processing skills to make each image pop with color and texture while remaining scientifically accurate.

We owe a debt to our scientific and outreach colleagues, who keep the satellites running, the sensors sensing, and the data and imagery flowing. Every one of the images in this book is publicly available through the Internet, truly making science accessible to every citizen. The Landsat teams at the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA, the LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, and the NASA Earth Observatory deserve extra gratitude for making our planet visible to the scientist and the layman every day.

Mother Earth Essay

Earth has many natural resources to help people live healthier lives. Mother Earth provides us with air, water, food and shelter. Writing a mother Earth essay helps children know the importance of protecting our planet.

Earth is a planet that hosts life and is inhabited by humans and other living beings. It is made out of rocks, metals, and gases. Earth is the only planet in our solar system where life can sustain and live on. Mother Earth is the third planet from the Sun and is home to more than seven billion people.

The Earth is a vital resource for life. We depend on it to grow plants, trees, and food. When we destroy the planet, we start destroying many things like the environment, our health and other things that help us survive. There are many ways to protect it, such as planting more trees, adopting a sustainable lifestyle etc.

The Earth is an amazing planet with various landscapes, ecosystems, and natural resources. It is essential to preserve them to ensure that future generations can enjoy the same unique beauty that we do now. To ensure this, it is crucial to have conservation programmes across the world. Environmental organisations have been around for decades, trying their best to protect the Earth’s biodiversity and promote environmental awareness.

Save Mother Earth

There are many ways to save this planet. Reducing our plastic consumption is one huge step that doesn’t require a lot of effort. By creating awareness about the consequences of our actions, we can save Mother Earth from global warming and other ecological problems.

The Earth is our home, and we should care for it. Our planet is precarious as a result of global warming, pollution, and a decreasing water level. It’s time to stop being complacent and take action.

Our planet is changing soon, and we need to act quickly. The best way to save Mother Earth is by reducing our carbon footprint. By setting sustainability goals and sticking to them, we can help make a difference in the planet’s health.

Another way to help save the planet is to reduce our carbon emissions. Governments around the world have already adopted various plans and laws to achieve this, but it is not easy.

Today, people are starting to realise their everyday actions that affect the Earth. They also recognise the need to start doing more responsible things to protect their future. Fortunately, there is a way for everyone to make a positive difference in the world: by adopting recycling and other eco-friendly strategies. While going green sounds difficult, it has become easier with advancements in today’s technology.

Frequently Asked Questions on Mother Earth Essay

How to save mother earth.

Saving our planet is everyone’s duty. We can start doing this by segregating wet and dry waste, avoiding mining activities, reducing plastic usage and stopping deforestation.

What are the causes of pollution?

The causes of pollution are industrial emissions, usage of harmful chemicals, plastic usage, mining and agricultural activities, transportation and many more.

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Soaring temperatures in New York, July 2010. Photo by Eric Thayer/Reuters

The melting brain

It’s not just the planet and not just our health – the impact of a warming climate extends deep into our cortical fissures.

by Clayton Page Aldern   + BIO

In February 1884, the English art critic and polymath John Ruskin took the lectern at the London Institution for a pair of lectures on the weather. ‘The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century’ was his invective against a particular ‘wind of darkness’ and ‘plague-cloud’ that, in his estimate, had begun to envelope Victorian cities only in recent years. He had been taking careful meteorological measurements, he told a sceptical audience. He railed against the ‘bitterness and malice’ of the new weather in question; and, perhaps more importantly, about how it mirrored a certain societal ‘moral gloom’. You could read in us what you could read in the weather, he suggested.

July Thundercloud in the Val d’Aosta (1858) by John Ruskin. Courtesy Wikipedia

It was easy that February, and perhaps easy today, to disregard any alleged winds of darkness as the ravings of a madman. Clouds are clouds: even if Ruskin’s existed – which was a question of some contemporaneous debate – it would be untoward to imagine they bore any relationship with the human psyche. As Brian Dillon observed of the cloud lectures in The Paris Review in 2019, it can be hard to tell where Ruskin’s ‘bad weather ends and his own ragged, doleful mood begins.’ In 1886, Ruskin suffered a mental breakdown while giving a talk in Oxford. By the end of his life at the turn of the century, he was widely considered insane. His ramblings on meteorology and the human spirit aren’t exactly treated with the same gravitas as his books on J M W Turner.

And yet, for Ruskin, the clouds weren’t just clouds: they were juiced up by a ‘dense manufacturing mist’, as he’d noted in a diary entry. The plague-clouds embodied the miasma of the Industrial Revolution; the moral gloom was specifically that which arose from the rapid societal and environmental changes that were afoot. Ruskin’s era had seen relentless transformation of pastoral landscapes into industrial hubs. Everything smelled like sulphur and suffering. Soot-filled air, chemical and human waste, the clamour of machinery – these were more than just physical nuisances. They were assaults on the senses, shaping moods and behaviour in ways that were not yet fully understood.

Mining Area (1852-1905) by Constantin Meunier. Courtesy Wikipedia

Ruskin believed that the relentless pace of industrialisation, with its cacophony of tools and sprawling factories and environmental destruction, undermined psychological wellbeing: that the mind, much like the body, required a healthy social and physical environment to thrive. This was actually a somewhat new idea. (Isaac Ray, a founder of the American Psychiatric Association, wouldn’t define the idea of ‘mental hygiene’, the precursor to mental health, until 1893.) Instability in the environment, for Ruskin, begot instability in the mind. One reflected the other.

M ore than a century later, as we grapple with a new suite of breakneck environmental changes, the plague-clouds are again darkly literal. Global average surface temperatures have risen by about 1.1°C (2°F) since the pre-industrial era, with most of this warming occurring in the past 40 years. Ice is melting; seas are steadily rising; storms are – well, you know this story. And yet, most frequently, it is still a story of the world out there: the world outside of us. The narrative of climate change is one of meteorological extremes, economic upheaval and biodiversity losses. But perhaps it is worth taking a maybe-mad Ruskin seriously. What of our internal clouds? As the climate crisis warps weather and acidifies oceans and shatters temperature records with frightening regularity, one is tempted to ask if our minds are changing in kind.

Here are some of the most concerning answers in the affirmative. Immigration judges are less likely to rule in favour of asylum seekers on hotter days. On such days, students behave as if they’ve lost a quarter-year of education, relative to temperate days. Warmer school years correspond to lower rates of learning. Temperature predicts the incidence of online hate speech. Domestic violence spikes with warmer weather. Suicide , too.

In baseball, pitchers are more likely to hit batters with their pitches on hot days

But you already know what this feels like. Perhaps you’re more ornery in the heat. Maybe you feel a little slow in the head. It’s harder to focus and easier to act impulsively. Tomes of cognitive neuroscience and behavioural economics research back you up, and it’s not all as dire as domestic violence. Drivers honk their horns more frequently (and lean on them longer) at higher temperatures. Heat predicts more aggressive penalties in sport. In baseball, pitchers are more likely to hit batters with their pitches on hot days – and the outdoor temperature is an even stronger predictor of their tendency to retaliate in this manner if they’ve witnessed an opposing pitcher do the same thing.

In other words: it would appear the plague-clouds are within us, too. They illustrate the interconnectedness of our inner and outer worlds. They betray a certain flimsiness of human agency, painting our decision-making in strokes of environmental influence far bolder than our intuition suggests. And they throw the climate crisis into fresh, stark relief: because, yes, as the climate changes, so do we.

T he London Institution closed in 1912. These days, when you want to inveigh against adverse environmental-mind interactions, you publish a paper in The Lancet . And so that is what 24 mostly British, mostly clinical neurologists did in May 2024, arguing that the ‘incidence, prevalence, and severity of many nervous system conditions’ can be affected by global warming. For these researchers, led by Sanjay Sisodiya, professor of neurology at University College London in the UK, the climate story is indeed one of internal clouds.

In their survey of 332 scientific studies, Sisodiya and his colleagues show that climatic influence extends far beyond behaviour and deep into cortical fissures. Aspects of migraine, stroke, seizure and multiple sclerosis all appear to be temperature dependent. In Taiwan, report the authors, the risk of schizophrenia hospitalisation increases with widening daytime temperature ranges. In California , too, ‘hospital visits for any mental health disorder, self-harm, intentional injury of another person, or homicide’ rise with broader daily temperature swings. In Switzerland , hospitalisations for psychiatric disorders increase with temperature, with the risk particularly pronounced for those with developmental disorders and schizophrenia.

Outside the hospital, climate change is extending the habitable range of disease vectors like ticks, mosquitoes and bats, causing scientists to forecast an increased incidence of vector-borne and zoonotic brain maladies like yellow fever, Zika and cerebral malaria. Outside the healthcare system writ large, a changing environment bears on sensory systems and perception, degrading both sensory information and the biological tools we use to process it. Outside the realm of the even remotely reasonable, warming freshwater brings with it an increased frequency of cyanobacterial blooms, the likes of which release neurotoxins that increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease).

Experiencing natural disasters in utero greatly increases children’s risk of anxiety, depression and ADHD

Indeed, recent studies suggest that climate change may be exacerbating the already substantial burden of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. In countries with warmer-than-average climates, more intense warming has been linked to a greater increase in Parkinson’s cases and, as Sisodiya et al note, the highest forecasted rates of increase in dementia prevalence are ‘expected to be in countries experiencing the largest effects of climate change’. Similarly, short-term exposure to high temperatures appears to drive up emergency department visits for Alzheimer’s patients. The air we breathe likely plays a complementary role: in Mexico City, for example, where residents are exposed to high levels of fine particulate matter and ozone from a young age, autopsies have revealed progressive Alzheimer’s pathology in 99 per cent of those under the age of 30.

The risks aren’t limited to those alive today. In 2022, for example, an epidemiological study revealed that heat exposure during early pregnancy is associated with a significantly increased risk of children developing schizophrenia, anorexia and other neuropsychiatric conditions. High temperatures during gestation have long been known to delay neurodevelopment in rats. Other scientists have shown that experiencing natural disasters in utero greatly increases children’s risk of anxiety, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorders later in life. Such effects cast the intergenerational responsibilities of the Anthropocene in harsh new light – not least because, as Sisodiya and colleagues write, there is a tremendous ‘global disparity between regions most affected by climate change (both now and in the future) and regions in which the majority of studies are undertaken.’ We don’t know what we don’t know.

What we do know is that the brain is emerging, in study after study, as one of climate change’s most vulnerable landscapes.

It is a useful reorientation. Return to the horn-honking and the baseball pitchers for a moment. A focus on the brain sheds some potential mechanistic light on the case studies and allows us to avoid phrases like ‘wind of darkness’. Higher temperatures, for example, appear to shift functional brain networks – the coordinated behaviour of various regions – toward randomised activity. In extreme heat, scientists have taken note of an overworked dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), the evolutionarily new brain region that the neuroendocrinologist Robert M Sapolsky at Stanford University in the US calls ‘the definitive rational decider in the frontal cortex’. The dlPFC limits the degree to which people make impulsive decisions; disrupted dlPFC activity tends to imply a relatively heightened influence of limbic structures (like the emotionally attuned amygdala) on behaviour. More heat, less rational decision-making.

When extreme heat reaches into your mind and tips your scales toward violence, it is constraining your choices

The physicality of environmental influence on the brain is more widespread than the dlPFC – and spans multiple spatial scales. Heat stress in zebrafish, for example, down-regulates the expression of proteins relevant to synapse construction and neurotransmitter release. In mice, heat also triggers inflammation in the hippocampus, a brain region necessary for memory formation and storage. While neuroinflammation often plays an initially protective role, chronic activation of immune cells – like microglia and astrocytes – can turn poisonous, since pro-inflammatory molecules can damage brain cells in the long run. In people, hyperthermia is associated with decreased blood flow to this region. Psychologists’ observations of waning cognition and waxing aggression at higher temperatures makes a world of sense in the context of such findings.

The nascent field of environmental neuroscience seeks to ‘understand the qualitative and quantitative relationships between the external environment, neurobiology, psychology and behaviour’. Searching for a more specific neologism – since that particular phrase also encompasses environmental exposures like noise, urban development, lighting and crime – we might refer to our budding, integrative field as climatological neuroepidemiology. Or, I don’t know, maybe we need something snappier for TikTok. Neuroclimatology? Ecological neurodynamics?

I tend to prefer: the weight of nature.

The weight forces our hands, as in the case of the behavioural effects highlighted above. When extreme heat reaches into your mind and tips your scales toward violence, it is constraining your choices. By definition, impulsive decisions are rooted in comparatively less reflection than considered decisions: to the extent that a changing climate influences our reactions and decision-making, we should understand it as compromising our perceived free will. The weight of nature is heavy. It displaces us.

It is also a heavy psychological burden to carry. You are likely familiar with the notion of climate anxiety . The phrase, which tends to refer to a near-pathological state of worry and fear of impending environmental destruction, has never sat particularly well with me. Anxiety, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual , is usually couched in terms of ‘excessive’ worry. I’m not convinced there’s anything excessive about seeing the climatic writing on the wall and feeling a sense of doom. Perhaps we ought to consider the climate-anxious as having more developed brains than the rest of the litter – that the Cassandras are the only sane ones left.

I ’m not exactly joking. Neuroscience has begun to study the brains in question, and not for nothing. The midcingulate cortex, a central hub in the brain’s threat-detection circuitry, may hold some clues to the condition’s biological basis: in one 2024 study , for example, researchers at Northern Michigan University in the US found that people who reported higher levels of anxiety about climate change showed distinct patterns of brain structure and function in this region, relative to those with lower levels of climate anxiety – and irrespective of base levels of anxiety writ large. In particular, the climate-anxious brain appears to play host to a smaller midcingulate (in terms of grey matter), but one that’s functionally more connected to other key hubs in the brain’s salience network, a system understood to constantly scan the environment for emotionally relevant information. In the salience network, the midcingulate cortex works hand in hand with limbic structures like the amygdala and insula to prepare the body to respond appropriately to this type of information. In people with climate anxiety, this network may be especially attuned to signals of climate-related threats.

Rather than indicating a deficiency, then, a diminutive midcingulate might reflect a more efficient, finely honed threat-detection system. The brain is well known to prune redundant connections over time, preserving only the most useful neural pathways. Selective sculpting, suggest the Michigan researchers, may allow the climate-anxious brain to process worrisome information more effectively, facilitating rapid communication between the midcingulate and other regions involved in threat anticipation and response. In other words, they write, the climate-anxious midcingulate might be characterised by ‘more efficient wiring’.

This neural sensitivity to potential dangers could be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it may attune some people to the very real perils of the future. The midcingulate is critical for anticipating future threats, and meta-analyses have found the region to be consistently activated when people contemplate unpredictable negative outcomes. Given the looming spectre of climate catastrophe, a hair-trigger threat-detection system could be an adaptive asset.

Climate anxiety is not just a sociocultural phenomenon. It has a theoretically identifiable neural correlate

On the other hand, argue the researchers:

[T]he complexity, uncertainty, as well as temporal and geographical distance of the climate crisis, in addition to its global nature, may lead individuals to deprioritising the risks associated with climate change, or becoming overwhelmed and disengaged – a state sometimes referred to as ‘eco-paralysis’.

An overactive midcingulate has been implicated in clinical anxiety disorders, and the new findings suggest that climate anxiety shares some of the same neural underpinnings. (It’s important to recall that climate anxiety seems to be distinct from generalised anxiety, though, as the brain differences observed in the Michigan study couldn’t be explained by overall anxiety levels.)

Ultimately, while speculative, these findings suggest that climate anxiety is not merely a sociocultural phenomenon, but one with theoretically identifiable neural correlates. They provide a potential biological framework for understanding why some people may be more psychologically impacted by climate change than others. And they raise intriguing questions about whether the brains of the climate anxious are particularly well-suited for confronting the existential threat of a warming world – or whether they are vulnerable to becoming overwhelmed by it. In all cases, though, they illustrate that world reaching inward.

T here is perhaps a flipside to be realised here. A changing climate is seeping into our very neurobiology. What might it mean to orient our neurobiology toward climate change?

Such is the premise of a 2023 article in Nature Climate Change by the neuroscientist Kimberly Doell at the University of Vienna in Austria and her colleagues, who argue that the field is well positioned to inform our understanding of climate-adaptation responses and pro-environmental decision-making. In the decades since Ruskin shook his fists at the sky, environmental neuroscience has begun to probe the reciprocal dance between organisms and their ecological niches. We know now that the textures of modern environments – green spaces, urban sprawl, socioeconomic strata – all leave their mark on the brain. Climate change is no different.

Accordingly, argue Doell et al, scientists and advocates alike can integrate findings from neuroscience to improve communications strategies aimed at spurring climate action. They want to turn the tables, taking advantage of insights from neurobiology and cognitive neuroscience to more effectively design climate solutions – both within ourselves and for society as a whole.

The Anthropocene’s fever dream is already warping our wetware

We have models for this type of approach. Poverty research, for instance, has long implicated socioeconomic conditions with subpar health. In more recent years, neuroscience has reverse-engineered the pathways by which poverty’s various insults – understimulation, toxic exposures, chronic stress – can erode neural architecture and derail cognitive development. Brain science alone won’t solve poverty, yet even a limited understanding of these mechanisms has spurred research in programmes like Head Start, a family-based preschool curriculum that has been shown to boost selective attention (as evident in electrophysiological recordings) and cognitive test scores. While the hydra of structural inequity is not easily slain, neuroscientists have managed to shine some light on poverty’s neural correlates, flag its reversible harms, and design precision remedies accordingly. This same potential, argue Doell and her colleagues, extends to the neuroscience of climate change.

To realise this potential, though, we need to further understand how the Anthropocene’s fever dream is already warping our wetware. Social and behavioural science have begun cataloguing the psychological fallout of a planet in flux, but a neural taxonomy of climate change awaits. The field’s methodological and conceptual arsenal is primed for the challenge, but honing it will demand alliances with climate science, medicine, psychology, political science and beyond.

Some are trying. For example, the Kavli Foundation in Los Angeles, US, recognising a need for answers, last year put out a call for scientists to investigate how neural systems are responding to ecological upheaval. With a trial $5 million, the foundation aims to illuminate how habitat loss, light pollution and other environmental insults may be influencing the molecular, cellular and circuit-level machinery of brains, human and otherwise. The central question is: in a biosphere where change is the only constant, are neural systems plastic enough to keep pace, or will they be left struggling to adapt?

The first wave of researchers to take up Kavli’s challenge are studying a diverse array of creatures, each uniquely positioned to reveal insights about the brain’s resilience in the face of planetary disruption. Wolfgang Stein at Illinois State University in the US and Steffen Harzsch at University of Greifswald in Germany, for example, focus on crustaceans, seeking to understand how their neural thermal regulators cope with rising temperatures in shallow and deep waters. Another group has targeted the brains of cephalopods, whose RNA-editing prowess may be key to their ability to tolerate plummeting oxygen levels in their increasingly suffocating aquatic habitats. A third Kavli cohort, led by Florence Kermen at University of Copenhagen in Denmark, is subjecting zebrafish to extreme temperatures, scouring their neurons and glial cells for the molecular signatures that allow them to thrive – even as their watery world heats up.

These initial investments have sparked federal curiosity. In December 2023, the US National Science Foundation joined forces with Kavli, inviting researchers to submit research proposals that seek to probe the ‘modulatory, homeostatic, adaptive, and/or evolutionary mechanisms that impact neurophysiology in response to anthropogenic environmental influence’. We may not be in arms-race territory yet, but at least there’s a suggestion that we’re beginning to walk in the right direction.

T he brain, that spongy command centre perched atop our spinal cord, has always been a black box. As the climate crisis tightens its grip, and the ecological ground beneath our feet grows ever more unsteady, the imperative to pry it open and peer inside grows more urgent by the day. Already, we’ve begun to glimpse the outlines of a new neural cartography, sketched in broad strokes by the likes of Sisodiya and his colleagues. We know now that the brain is less a static lump of self-regulating tissue than it is a dynamic, living landscape, its hills and valleys shaped by the contours of our environment. Just as the Greenland ice sheet groans and buckles under the heat of a changing climate, so too do our synapses wither and our neurons wink out as the mercury rises. Just as rising seas swallow coastlines, and forests succumb to drought and flame, the anatomical borders of our brains are redrawn by each new onslaught of environmental insult.

But the dialogue between brain and biosphere is not a one-way street. The choices we make, the behaviours we pursue, the ways in which we navigate a world in crisis – all of these decisions are reflected back onto the environment, for good or for ill. So, I offer: in seeking to understand how a changing climate moulds the contours of our minds, we must also reckon with how the architecture of our thoughts might be renovated in service of sustainability.

Bit by bit, synapse by synapse, we can chart a course through the gathering plague-cloud

The cartographers of the Anthropocene mind have their work cut out for them. But in the hands of neuroscience – with its shimmering brain scans and humming electrodes, its gene-editing precision and algorithmic might – there is something approaching a starting point. By tracing the pathways of environmental impact to their neural roots, and by following the cascading consequences of our mental processes back out into the world, we might yet begin to parse the tangled web that binds the fates of mind and planet.

This much is clear: as the gears of the climate crisis grind on, our brains will be swept along for the ride. The question is whether we’ll be mere passengers, or whether we’ll seize the controls and steer towards something resembling a liveable future. The weight of nature – the immensity of the crisis we face – is daunting. But it need not be paralysing. Bit by bit, synapse by synapse, we can chart a course through the gathering plague-clouds. It was Ruskin, at a slightly more legible moment in his life, who offered: ‘To banish imperfection is to destroy expression, to check exertion, to paralyse vitality.’ Even if we somehow could, we ought not banish the alleged imperfections of environmental influence on the mind. Instead, we ought to read in them an intimate, vital relationship between self and world.

In this, climatological neuroepidemiology – young and untested though it may be – is poised to play an outsized role. In gazing into the black box of the climate-altered mind, in illuminating the neural circuitry of our planetary predicament, the field offers something precious: a flicker of agency in a world that often feels as if it’s spinning out of control. It whispers that the levers of change are within reach, lodged in the squishy confines of our crania, waiting to be grasped. And it suggests that, even as the weight of nature presses down upon us, we might yet find a way to press back.

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An essay toward a natural history of the earth: and terrestrial bodies, especially minerals: as also of the sea, rivers, and springs. With an account of the universal deluge: and of the effects that it had upon the earth

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Opinion Guest Essay

The Soul of Soil

Credit... Sarah Meadows

Supported by

By Ferris Jabr

Mr. Jabr is the author of “ Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life .”

• Aug. 4, 2024

When my partner and I bought our home in Portland, Ore., four years ago, we immediately began designing our dream garden, intending to replace a derelict grass lawn with ample beds of lush, long-blooming perennials. We soon discovered, however, that our soil was unyielding, clay-heavy and strewed with rubble. In previous, much tinier gardens, I’d circumvented such difficulties with a few bags of high-quality soil from the nursery. Replacing this vastly greater quantity of dirt was neither practical nor financially feasible. Instead, I resolved to remediate what we already had.

Learning how to do so transformed much more than our yard — it completely changed the way I think about soil, and about our planet as a whole. I now see soil not simply as a medium for life, but as a living entity in its own right — one that is rapidly going extinct.

In some parts of the world, intensive farming, overgrazing and deforestation are destroying soil up to 1,000 times as fast as the base line rate of erosion. If current trends continue, 90 percent of the planet’s habitable land areas could be substantially degraded by 2050, causing crop yields to drop by an average of 10 percent — and up to 50 percent in some areas — and most likely forcing up to hundreds of millions of people to migrate.

The eradication of soil could culminate in the collapse of complex terrestrial life — unless we rethink our relationship to the world beneath our feet.

Soil is the result of eons of planetary evolution — billions of years of the elements weathering rock and more than 425 million years of interactions with complex life. A single inch of fertile topsoil requires centuries to develop.

Microbes, fungi, plants and animals create and maintain soil through myriad processes: by breaking apart rock with roots and secreted acids; enriching fragmented rock with their own remains and byproducts; and circulating air, water and nutrients via crawling, slithering and burrowing.

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Essay on Environment for Students and Children

500+ words essay on environment.

Essay on Environment – All living things that live on this earth comes under the environment. Whether they live on land or water they are part of the environment. The environment also includes air, water, sunlight, plants, animals, etc.

Moreover, the earth is considered the only planet in the universe that supports life. The environment can be understood as a blanket that keeps life on the planet sage and sound.

Importance of Environment

We truly cannot understand the real worth of the environment. But we can estimate some of its importance that can help us understand its importance. It plays a vital role in keeping living things healthy in the environment.

Likewise, it maintains the ecological balance that will keep check of life on earth. It provides food, shelter, air, and fulfills all the human needs whether big or small.

Moreover, the entire life support of humans depends wholly on the environmental factors. In addition, it also helps in maintaining various life cycles on earth.

Most importantly, our environment is the source of natural beauty and is necessary for maintaining physical and mental health.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Benefits of the Environment

The environment gives us countless benefits that we can’t repay our entire life. As they are connected with the forest, trees, animals, water, and air. The forest and trees filter the air and absorb harmful gases. Plants purify water, reduce the chances of flood maintain natural balance and many others.

Moreover, the environment keeps a close check on the environment and its functioning, It regulates the vital systems that are essential for the ecosystem. Besides, it maintains the culture and quality of life on earth.

The environment regulates various natural cycles that happen daily. These cycles help in maintaining the natural balance between living things and the environment. Disturbance of these things can ultimately affect the life cycle of humans and other living beings.

The environment has helped us and other living beings to flourish and grow from thousands of years. The environment provides us fertile land, water, air, livestock and many essential things for survival.

Cause of Environmental Degradation

Human activities are the major cause of environmental degradation because most of the activities humans do harm the environment in some way. The activities of humans that causes environmental degradation is pollution, defective environmental policies, chemicals, greenhouse gases, global warming, ozone depletion, etc.

All these affect the environment badly. Besides, these the overuse of natural resources will create a situation in the future there will be no resources for consumption. And the most basic necessity of living air will get so polluted that humans have to use bottled oxygen for breathing.

Above all, increasing human activity is exerting more pressure on the surface of the earth which is causing many disasters in an unnatural form. Also, we are using the natural resources at a pace that within a few years they will vanish from the earth. To conclude, we can say that it is the environment that is keeping us alive. Without the blanket of environment, we won’t be able to survive.

Moreover, the environment’s contribution to life cannot be repaid. Besides, still what the environment has done for us, in return we only have damaged and degraded it.

FAQs about Essay on Environment

Q.1 What is the true meaning of the environment?

A.1 The ecosystem that includes all the plants, animals, birds, reptiles, insects, water bodies, fishes, human beings, trees, microorganisms and many more are part of the environment. Besides, all these constitute the environment.

Q.2 What is the three types of the environment?

A.2 The three types of environment includes the physical, social, and cultural environment. Besides, various scientists have defined different types and numbers of environment.

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• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.143069
• Corpus ID: 271829740

Vital effects and the fractionation of rare earth elements and yttrium during uptake by and transfer within freshwater bivalves and their shells.

• Keran Zhang , Anna-Lena Zocher , Michael Bau
• Published in Chemosphere 1 August 2024
• Environmental Science

67 References

Mechanistic analysis of the sub chronic toxicity of la and gd in daphnia magna based on tktd modelling and synchrotron x-ray fluorescence imaging., rare earth elements and yttrium in shells of invasive mussel species from temperate rivers in central europe: comparison between c. fluminea, d. bugensis, and d. polymorpha, trace element patterns in shells of mussels (bivalvia) allow to distinguish between fresh- and brackish-water coastal environments of the subarctic and boreal zone, fate, subcellular distribution and biological effects of rare earth elements in a freshwater bivalve under complex exposure., trace elements in bivalve shells: how “vital effects” can bias environmental studies, biomonitoring of rare earth elements in southern norway: distribution, fractionation, and accumulation patterns in the marine bivalves mytilus spp. and tapes spp., driving forces of ce(iii) oxidation to ce(iv) onto goethite, spatial distribution of rare earth elements in a transnational watershed: the case of the danube river., rare earth element uptake mechanisms in plankton in the estuary and gulf of st. lawrence., calculation of cerium and lanthanum anomalies in geological and environmental samples, related papers.

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