Essay on Earth

500 words essay on earth.

The earth is the planet that we live on and it is the fifth-largest planet. It is positioned in third place from the Sun. This essay on earth will help you learn all about it in detail. Our earth is the only planet that can sustain humans and other living species. The vital substances such as air, water, and land make it possible.

essay on earth

All About Essay on Earth

The rocks make up the earth that has been around for billions of years. Similarly, water also makes up the earth. In fact, water covers 70% of the surface. It includes the oceans that you see, the rivers, the sea and more.

Thus, the remaining 30% is covered with land. The earth moves around the sun in an orbit and takes around 364 days plus 6 hours to complete one round around it. Thus, we refer to it as a year.

Just like revolution, the earth also rotates on its axis within 24 hours that we refer to as a solar day. When rotation is happening, some of the places on the planet face the sun while the others hide from it.

As a result, we get day and night. There are three layers on the earth which we know as the core, mantle and crust. The core is the centre of the earth that is usually very hot. Further, we have the crust that is the outer layer. Finally, between the core and crust, we have the mantle i.e. the middle part.

The layer that we live on is the outer one with the rocks. Earth is home to not just humans but millions of other plants and species. The water and air on the earth make it possible for life to sustain. As the earth is the only livable planet, we must protect it at all costs.

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

There is No Planet B

The human impact on the planet earth is very dangerous. Through this essay on earth, we wish to make people aware of protecting the earth. There is no balance with nature as human activities are hampering the earth.

Needless to say, we are responsible for the climate crisis that is happening right now. Climate change is getting worse and we need to start getting serious about it. It has a direct impact on our food, air, education, water, and more.

The rising temperature and natural disasters are clear warning signs. Therefore, we need to come together to save the earth and leave a better planet for our future generations.

Being ignorant is not an option anymore. We must spread awareness about the crisis and take preventive measures to protect the earth. We must all plant more trees and avoid using non-biodegradable products.

Further, it is vital to choose sustainable options and use reusable alternatives. We must save the earth to save our future. There is no Planet B and we must start acting like it accordingly.

Conclusion of Essay on Earth

All in all, we must work together to plant more trees and avoid using plastic. It is also important to limit the use of non-renewable resources to give our future generations a better planet.

FAQ on Essay on Earth

Question 1: What is the earth for kids?

Answer 1: Earth is the third farthest planet from the sun. It is bright and bluish in appearance when we see it from outer space. Water covers 70% of the earth while land covers 30%. Moreover, the earth is the only planet that can sustain life.

Question 2: How can we protect the earth?

Answer 2: We can protect the earth by limiting the use of non-renewable resources. Further, we must not waste water and avoid using plastic.

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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.

Feature image of Short Essay on Our Planet Earth

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. 

Join us on Telegram to get the latest updates on our upcoming sessions. Thank you, see you again soon.

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ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Earth is the planet we live on, the third of eight planets in our solar system and the only known place in the universe to support life.

Earth Science, Astronomy, Geology, Geography, Physical Geography

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Learning materials.

  • The active outer shell of Earth is dominated by tectonic plates, whose interactions result in volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and geysers. Click to visit MapMaker Interactive's layer on Earth's tectonic plates.

Earth is the planet we live on, one of eight planets in our solar system and the only known place in the universe to support life.

Earth is the third planet from the sun , after Mercury and Venus, and before Mars. It is about 150 million kilometers (about 93 million miles) from the sun. This distance, called an astronomical unit (AU), is a standard unit of measurement in astronomy . Earth is one AU from the sun. The planet Jupiter is about 5.2 AU from the sun—about 778 million kilometers (483.5 million miles).

Earth is the largest and most massive of the rocky inner planets , although it is dwarfed by the gas giants beyond the Asteroid Belt . Its diameter is about 12,700 kilometers (7,900 miles), and its mass is about 5.97×1024 kilograms (6.58×1021 tons). In contrast, Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, has a diameter of 143,000 kilometers (88,850 miles), and its mass is about 1,898×1024 kilograms (2093×1021 tons).

Earth is an oblate spheroid . This means it is spherical in shape, but not perfectly round. It has a slightly greater radius at the Equator , the imaginary line running horizontally around the middle of the planet. In addition to bulging in the middle, Earth’s poles are slightly flattened. The geoid describes the model shape of Earth, and is used to calculate precise surface locations.

Earth has one natural satellite , the moon . Earth is the only planet in the solar system to have one moon. Venus and Mercury do not have any moons, for example, while Jupiter and Saturn each have more than a dozen.

Planet Earth  

Earth’s interior is a complex structure of superheated rocks. Most geologists recognize three major layers: the dense core , the bulky mantle , and the brittle crust . No one has ever ventured below Earth’s crust.

Earth’s core is mostly made of iron and nickel . It consists of a solid center surrounded by an outer layer of liquid . The core is found about 2,900 kilometers (1,802 miles) below Earth’s surface, and has a radius of about 3,485 kilometers (2,165 miles).

A mantle of heavy rock (mostly silicates ) surrounds the core. The mantle is about 2,900 kilometers (1,802 miles) thick, and makes up a whopping 84 percent of Earth’s total volume . Parts of the mantle are molten , meaning they are composed of partly melted rock. The mantle’s molten rock is constantly in motion. It is forced to the surface during volcanic eruptions and at mid-ocean ridges .

Earth’s crust is the planet’s thinnest layer, accounting for just one percent of Earth’s mass. There are two kinds of crust: thin, dense oceanic crust and thick, less-dense continental crust . Oceanic crust extends about five to 10 kilometers (three to six miles) beneath the ocean floor. Continental crust is about 35 to 70 kilometers (22 to 44 miles) thick.

Exterior: Tectonic Activity

The crust is covered by a series of constantly moving tectonic plates . New crust is created along mid-ocean ridges and rift valleys , where plates pull apart from each other in a process called rifting . Plates slide above and below each other in a process called subduction . They crash against each other in a process called faulting .

Tectonic activity such as subduction and faulting has shaped the crust into a variety of landscapes . Earth’s highest point is Mount Everest, Nepal, which soars 8,850 kilometers (29,035 feet) in the Himalaya Mountains in Asia. Mount Everest continues to grow every year, as subduction drives the Indo-Australian tectonic plate below the Eurasian tectonic plate. Subduction also creates Earth’s deepest point, the Mariana Trench, about 11 kilometers (6.9 miles) below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. The heavy Pacific plate is being subducted beneath the small Mariana plate.

Plate tectonics are also responsible for landforms such as geysers , earthquakes , and volcanoes . Tectonic activity around the Pacific plate, for instance, creates the Ring of Fire . This tectonically active area includes volcanoes such as Mount Fuji, Japan, and earthquake-prone fault zones such as the west coast of the United States.

Revolution and Rotation

Earth is a rocky body constantly moving around the sun in a path called an orbit . Earth and the moon follow a slightly oval-shaped orbit around the sun every year.

Each journey around the sun, a trip of about 940 million kilometers (584 million miles), is called a revolution. A year on Earth is the time it takes to complete one revolution, about 365.25 days. Earth orbits the sun at a speedy rate of about 30 kilometers per second (18.5 miles per second).

At the same time that it revolves around the sun, Earth rotates on its own axis . Rotation is when an object, such as a planet, turns around an invisible line running down its center. Earth’s axis is vertical, running from the North Pole to the South Pole. Earth makes one complete rotation about every 24 hours. Earth rotates unevenly, spinning faster at the Equator than at the poles. At the Equator, Earth rotates at about 1,670 kilometers per hour (1,040 miles per hour), while at 45° north, for example, (the approximate latitude of Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States) Earth rotates at 1,180 kilometers per hour (733 miles per hour).

Earth’s rotation causes the periods of light and darkness we call day and night. The part of Earth facing the sun is in daylight; the part facing away from the sun is in darkness. If Earth did not rotate, one-half of Earth would always be too hot to support life, and the other half would be frozen. Earth rotates from west to east, so the sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west. 

In addition to Earth’s revolution and rotation periods, we experience light and darkness due to Earth’s axis not being straight up-and-down. Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted 23.5°. This tilt influences temperature changes and other weather patterns from season to season. 

The Spheres

Earth’s physical environment is often described in terms of spheres: the magnetosphere , the atmosphere , the hydrosphere , and the lithosphere . Parts of these spheres make up the biosphere , the area of Earth where life exists.

Magnetosphere

Earth’s magnetosphere describes the pocket of space surrounding our planet where charged particles are controlled by Earth’s magnetic field .

The charged particles that int eract with Earth’s magnetosphere are called the solar wind . The pressure of the solar wind compresses the magnetosphere on the “dayside” of Earth to about 10 Earth radii. The long tail of the magnetosphere on the “nightside” of Earth stretches to hundreds of Earth radii. The most well-known aspect of the magnetosphere are the charged particles that sometimes interact over its poles—the auroras , or Northern and Southern Lights.

Earth’s atmosphere is a blanket of gases enveloping Earth and retained by our planet’s gravity . Atmospheric gases include nitrogen, water vapor , oxygen , and carbon dioxide .

The atmosphere is responsible for temperature and other weather patterns on Earth. It blocks most of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation (UV), conducts solar radiation and precipitation through constantly moving air masses , and keeps our planet’s average surface temperature to about 15° Celsius (59° Fahrenheit).

The atmosphere has a layered structure. From the ground toward the sky, the layers are the troposphere , stratosphere , mesosphere , thermosphere , and exosphere . Up to 75 percent of the total mass of the atmosphere is in the troposphere, where most weather occurs. The boundaries between the layers are not clearly defined, and change depending on latitude and season.

Hydrosphere

The hydrosphere is composed of all the water on Earth. Nearly three-fourths of Earth is covered in water, most of it in the ocean. Less than three percent of the hydrosphere is made up of freshwater . Most freshwater is frozen in ice sheets and glaciers in Antarctica, the North American island of Greenland, and the Arctic. Freshwater can also be found underground, in chambers called aquifers , as well as rivers , lakes , and springs .

Water also circulates around the world as vapor. Water vapor can condense into clouds and fall back to Earth as precipitation.

The hydrosphere helps regulate Earth’s temperature and climate . The ocean absorbs heat from the sun and interacts with the atmosphere to move it around Earth in air currents .

Lithosphere

The lithosphere is Earth’s solid shell. The crust and the upper portion of the mantle form the lithosphere. It extends from Earth’s surface to between 50 and 280 kilometers (31 to 174 miles) below it. The difference in thickness accounts for both thin oceanic and thicker continental crust.

The rocks and minerals in Earth’s lithosphere are made of many elements . Rocks with oxygen and silicon , the most abundant elements in the lithosphere, are called silicates. Quartz is the most common silicate in the lithosphere—and the most common type of rock on Earth.

Cycles on Earth

Almost all materials on Earth are constantly being recycled . The three most common cycles are the water cycle , the carbon cycle , and the rock cycle .

Water Cycle

The water cycle involves three main phases, related to the three states of water: solid, liquid, and gas. Ice , or solid water, is most common near the poles and at high altitudes . Ice sheets and glaciers hold the most solid water.

Ice sheets and glaciers melt, transforming into liquid water. The most abundant liquid water on the planet is in the ocean, although lakes, rivers, and underground aquifers also hold liquid water. Life on Earth is dependent on a supply of liquid water. Most organisms, in fact, are made up mostly of liquid water, called body water . The human body is about 50 percent to 60 percent body water. In addition to survival and hygiene , people use liquid water for energy and transportation .

The third phase of the water cycle occurs as liquid water evaporates. Evaporation is the process of a liquid turning into a gas, or vapor. Water vapor is invisible and makes up part of the atmosphere. As water vapor condenses, or turns back into liquid, pockets of vapor become visible as clouds and fog . Eventually, clouds and fog become saturated , or full of liquid water. This liquid water falls to Earth as precipitation. It can then enter a body of water, such as an ocean or lake, or freeze and become part of a glacier or ice sheet. The water cycle starts again.

Carbon Cycle

The carbon cycle involves the exchange of the element carbon through Earth’s atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. Carbon, essential for all life on Earth, enters the biosphere many ways. Carbon is one of the gases that make up the atmosphere. It is also ejected during the eruption of volcanoes and ocean vents .

All living or once-living materials contain carbon. These materials are organic . Plants and other autotrophs depend on carbon dioxide to create nutrients in a process called photosynthesis . These nutrients contain carbon. Animals and other organisms that consume autotrophs obtain carbon. Fossil fuels , the remains of ancient plants and animals, contain very high amounts of carbon.

As organisms die and decompose , they release carbon into the ocean, soil , or atmosphere. Plants and other autotrophs use this carbon for photosynthesis, starting the carbon cycle again.

The rock cycle is a process that explains the relationship between the three main types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Unlike water in the water cycle and or carbon in the carbon cycle, not all rocks are recycled in different forms. There are some rocks that have been in their present form since soon after Earth cooled. These stable rock formations are called cratons .

Igneous rocks are formed as lava hardens. Lava is molten rock ejected by volcanoes during eruptions. Granite and basalt are common types of igneous rocks. Igneous rocks can be broken apart by the forces of erosion and weathering . Winds or ocean currents may then transport these tiny rocks ( sand and dust ) to a different location.

Sedimentary rocks are created from millions of tiny particles slowly building up over time. Igneous rocks can become sedimentary by collecting with other rocks into layers. Sedimentary rocks include sandstone and limestone .

Metamorphic rocks are formed when rocks are subjected to intense heat and pressure. The rocks change (undergo metamorphosis ) to become a new type of rock. Marble , for example, is a metamorphic rock created from rock that was once limestone, a sedimentary rock.

Earth’s Evolution

Earth and the rest of the solar system formed about 4.6 billion years ago from a huge, spinning cloud of gas and dust.

Over a period of about 10 million years, the dense center of the cloud grew very hot. This massive center became the sun. The rest of the particles and objects continued to revolve around the sun, colliding with each other in clumps. Eventually, these clumps compressed into planets, asteroids , and moons. This process generated a lot of heat. 

Eventually, Earth began to cool and its materials began to separate. Lighter materials floated upward and formed a thin crust. Heavier materials sank toward Earth’s center. Eventually, three main layers formed: the core, the mantle, and the crust.

As Earth’s internal structure developed, gases released from the interior mixed together, forming a thick, steamy atmosphere around the planet. Water vapor condensed, and was augmented by water from asteroids and comets that continued to crash to Earth. Rain began to fall and liquid water slowly filled basins in Earth’s crust, forming a primitive ocean that covered most of the planet. Today, ocean waters continue to cover nearly three-quarters of our planet.

The end of Earth will come with the end of the sun. In a few billion years, the sun will no longer be able to sustain the nuclear reactions that keep its mass and luminosity consistent . First, the sun will lose more than a quarter of its mass, which will loosen its gravitational hold on Earth. Earth’s orbit will widen to about 1.7 AU. But the sun will also gain volume, expanding to about 250 times its current size. The sun in this red giant phase will drag Earth into its own fiery atmosphere, destroying the planet.

Eras on Earth

Paleontologists , geologists, and other scientists divide Earth’s history into time periods. The largest time period is the supereon , and only applies to one unit of time, the Precambrian . Eons , eras, and periods are smaller units of geologic time.

Most of Earth’s history took place in the Pre cambrian , which began when Earth was cooling and ended about 542 million years ago. Life began in the Precambrian, in the forms of bacteria and other single-celled organisms. Fossils from the Precambrian are rare and difficult to study. The Precambrian supereon is usually broken into three eons: the Hadean , the Archaean , and the Proterozoic .

We are currently living in the Phanerozoic eon.

The first major era of the Phanerozoic is called the Paleozoic, and the Cambrian is the first period of the Paleozoic era . “The Cambrian Explosion of Life ” was the rapid appearance of almost all forms of life. Paleontologists and geologists have studied fossils of archaea , bacteria, algae , fungi , plants, and animals that lived during the Cambrian period. The Cambrian was followed by the Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian periods.

The Mesozoic era began about 251 million years ago. This was the era when dinosaurs flourished . The Mezozoic has three periods: the Triassic, the Jurassic, and the Cretaceous.

We currently live in the Cenozoic era, which began about 65 million years ago. The Cenozoic is generally marked by three periods: the Paleogene, the Neogene, and the Quaternary . We live in the Quaternary period, which began about 2.5 million years ago. All ancestors of Homo sapiens (modern humans) evolved during the Quaternary.

Earth by the Numbers

Surface Gravity: 1 (one kilogram on Earth)

Orbital Period: 365.256 days

Satellites: 1 (the Moon)

Atmosphere: nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), argon, carbon dioxide, neon

Average Temperature: 15° Celsius (77 Kelvin, 59° Fahrenheit)

Ingredients for Life Scientists have gathered enough information about other planets in our solar system to know that none can support life as we know it. Life is not possible without a stable atmosphere containing the right chemical ingredients for living organisms: hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon. These ingredients must be balanced—not too thick or too thin. Life also depends on the presence of water. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all have atmospheres made mostly of hydrogen and helium. These planets are called gas giants, because they are mostly made of gas and do not have a solid outer crust. Mercury and Mars have some of the right ingredients, but their atmospheres are far too thin to support life. The atmosphere of Venus is too thick—the planet's surface temperature is more than 460 degrees Celsius (860 degrees Fahrenheit). Jupiter's moon Europa has a thin atmosphere rich with oxygen. It is likely covered by a huge ocean of liquid water. Some astrobiologists think that if life exists elsewhere in the solar system, it will be near vents at the bottom of Europa's ocean.

Earth to Earth Earth is the only planet in the solar system not named for a Greek or Roman deity. "Earth" originally meant the soil and land of our planet. (This is still what it means when the word is lowercase.) Eventually, Earth came to mean the planet itself.

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October 19, 2023

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Related Resources

the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 in 1972

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.

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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 .

a woman standing near the Northern Lights

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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Essays About Earth: 7 Essay Examples And Topic Ideas

There are many things you need to know about our planet, so if you’re making essays about Earth, you can read these sample essays and topic ideas.

The planet Earth is where we, humans, and other living creatures live. It also provides us with all the necessities we need – air to breathe, water to drink, and soil to grow fruits and vegetables. Without its natural resources, life would be impossible for all of us. 

Writing an essay about Earth can help give knowledge and spread awareness about climate change or look at the beauty of our planet. If you are writing an essay about the Earth, here are some essay examples and topic ideas to help you get started.

Tip: If you want to use the latest grammar software, read our guide to using an AI grammar checker .

1. Short Essay On The Structure Of Planet Earth By Shyam Soni

2. interest and concern about the fate of the earth by john olson, 3. our planet in danger by derrick wells, 4. a planet without trees: a nightmare or our future by shannon cain, 5. the possibility of an asteroid falling to earth by lewis rios, 6. save earth before colonizing mars by luz estrada, 7. my earth, my responsibility by poonam ghimire, topic idea essays about earth, 1. are there more planets like earth, 2. how has the earth’s surface changed over the years, 3. causes and effects of global warming, 4. does planting trees and reforestation help limit global warming, 5. how does population growth affect earth’s climate change, 6.  human impacts on the planet earth, 7. how did the planet earth form.

“Direct observation of the interior of the Earth is not possible as the interior becomes hotter with depth which is convincingly indicated by the volcanic eruptions. Apart from the seismological studies, other important sources of data, even though indirect, logically prove that the Earth’s body comprises several layers, which are like shells resting one above the other. These layers are distinguished by their physical and chemical properties, particularly, their thickness, depth, density, temperature, metallic content, and rocks.”

Author Shyam Soni discusses some essential facts about the structure of the planet Earth. This essay focuses on its layered structure and the differences in the density and temperature at different depths.

“I have found myself increasingly interested and concerned with the fate of the Earth and the way humankind views sustainability. In my perspective, many humans believe that Earth’s materials and resources are infinite, they will always be there to feed and maintain human life. The Earth will endlessly support and provide for the needs of the humans that inhabit it. Yet, that is just simply not true, as the human population grows we use more and more of the natural resources Earth provides.”

Author John Olson shares his point of view about the Earth’s “infinite” resources and its sustainability. However, Olson tells us that it may not be as unlimited as we think because of the rapid growth of the human population.

“Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century that started in England, the people during those times were already writing down the blueprint for a problem that the succeeding generations will have to face – the increasing problem of Carbon Dioxide emissions in our atmosphere. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is released in tons, millions of tons every day in every country – released from various factories and cars most especially. This buildup of toxic gases such as the carbon dioxide heats up our planet thereby increasing the possibility, and the danger of global warming – this is what we call the greenhouse effect.”

Author Derrick Wells talks about one of the environmental problems we are facing today – the Greenhouse Effect and the actions that we could take to save our planet Earth from the danger it can pose.

“Can we imagine a world without trees? What a world without trees would look like? Could such a world even exist? Let us close our eyes, and try to imagine a desolate Earth. Imagine no more paper, and everyone would have to resort to some other source or maybe technology could help, but that is, if anyone was left at that time. Trees are an important factor to our existence not only because they produce paper, lumber, or chewing gum, but due to the fact that they serve an important role in the carbon cycle, they are the key to our very existence! Due to the ever increasing population, that seemingly distant future is getting near each passing day.”

Author Shannon Cain shares his thought about a planet without trees, telling us what it would be like and what we can do to prevent it from happening to our home planet – the Earth. 

“Jonathan Haidt gave a speech about the possibility of an asteroid falling on Earth and asked the audience what people could do to stop them. Haidt notes that if an asteroid threatens to destroy the Earth, people will forget about their differences and stand together to fight for their survival. This is what he refers a common ground in the midst of a crisis. Haidt’s video shows us the many problems that people are facing, but yet people cannot find a common ground to fight them while the issues are threatening all of us.”

Author Lewis Rios talks about the possibility of an asteroid falling on Earth and then relates it to some common problems we are facing right now. Such as poverty, which tells us that we should all cooperate and work together to find a solution to these threats to survive. 

“Has humanity irreversibly defaced Earth from being a sustainable planet for further centuries? Many would believe that humanity has come to a point of constant destruction of Earth with no hope for change. This thought process has come forth with the resolution of starting a new sustainable planet on Mars. However, it is tremendously more challenging to restart than to fix damage and change simplistic daily routines.” 

Author Luz Estrada shares her opinion about the plan of starting a new sustainable planet on Mars. Estrada shares with the readers that it is much easier to save and fix Earth – as it is now – rather than thinking of starting a new life on a different planet, which is impossible for most people.

“Earth is a beautiful living planet in the Universe and the common habitat of more than 7 billion human population and millions of species of biodiversity. Our Earth provides us with food, shelter, and most of our requirements. Despite unavoidable free services provided by the earth to humans, we are not able to pay off her kindness to us. Rather we humans are being cruel to our Earth with our selfish activities.”

Author Poonam Ghimire talks about the selfish acts that cause Earth’s slow destruction. Ghimire encourages the readers to be responsible enough to protect and preserve our planet for the next generations.

Earth, our home, is the only planet known to support life, although there are current missions determining Mars’ past and future potential for life. While scientists continue to look for signs of life elsewhere in the universe, Earth remains the only place where we’ve ever identified living creatures. If you are writing an essay about the Earth, you can use this topic idea to discuss some Earth-like planets discovered so far.

The planet Earth has not always looked the same way it looks today; the United States, a billion years ago, was in a completely different location compared to where it is today! So, how does this happen? Why does this happen? In your essay about the Earth, you can use this topic idea to give the readers some understanding of how our planet has changed over time – like the things that took place and are still taking place.

Recent global warming is mainly because of human actions, which involve releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. An increase in greenhouse gases leads to a more significant greenhouse effect, which results in increased global warming. Global warming is also being felt everywhere – drought, heatwaves, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and storms. If you are writing an essay about the Earth, you can discuss this topic in more detail to spread awareness to your readers out there.

Essays About Earth: Does planting trees and reforestation help limit global warming

Planting more trees is one of the most effective ways to lessen atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and stop global warming. As the forests grow, they remove the carbon dioxide from the air through photosynthesis, which works as a natural reservoir to store carbon. Reforestation, one of the planned projects worldwide, is thought to help protect the environment for the next generations. You can use this topic idea for your essay about the Earth to encourage your readers to plant more trees to reduce the harmful effects of deforestation and save our home planet, Earth, from getting slowly destroyed.

Since humans require fossil fuels to power their increasingly mechanized lifestyles, human population growth is undoubtedly a significant contributor to global warming. More people mean more demand for oil, gas, coal, and other underground fuels that, when burned, release enough carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere to trap warm air inside like a greenhouse. So, in your essay about the Earth, let your readers know to what extent human population growth affects climate change and what can be done about it. 

Humans affect the planet Earth in many ways – overpopulation, pollution, burning fossil fuels, and deforestation. These things have caused global warming, soil erosion, poor air quality, and non-potable water. In your essay about the Earth, you can detail these negative impacts and how they can affect us, humans. 

The planet Earth’s formation remains a bizarre, scientific mystery. This is because we live on a planet in a solar system with seven other planets, and thousands of exoplanets have been discovered so far. However, the formation of planets like Earth is still a hotly debated topic. So, currently, there are only 2 leading theories about planetary formation – in your essay about the earth, look into this topic in more detail to share some exciting facts about the Earth with your readers. 

If you’re stuck picking your next essay topic, check out our guide on how to write a diverse essay.

If you’re still stuck, check out our general resource of essay writing topics .

essay about earth planet

Bryan Collins is the owner of Become a Writer Today. He's an author from Ireland who helps writers build authority and earn a living from their creative work. He's also a former Forbes columnist and his work has appeared in publications like Lifehacker and Fast Company.

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

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

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Published: Mar 8, 2024

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

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essay about earth planet

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Earth Book

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

atmosphere

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

water

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”

land

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

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

credits image

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.

acknowledgments image

Image that reads Space Place and links to spaceplace.nasa.gov.

All About Earth

Our home planet Earth is a rocky, terrestrial planet. It has a solid and active surface with mountains, valleys, canyons, plains and so much more. Earth is special because it is an ocean planet. Water covers 70% of Earth's surface.

Explore Earth! Click and drag to rotate Earth. Scroll or pinch to zoom in and out. Credit: NASA Visualization Technology Applications and Development (VTAD)

Our atmosphere is made mostly of nitrogen and has plenty of oxygen for us to breathe. The atmosphere also protects us from incoming meteoroids , most of which break up in our atmosphere before they can strike the surface as meteorites.

Since we live here, you might think we know all there is to know about Earth. Not at all, actually! We have a lot we can learn about our home planet. Right now, there are many satellites orbiting Earth taking pictures and measurements. This is how we can learn more about weather, oceans, soil, climate change , and many other important topics.

a cartoon of a smiling Earth saying, Life is great!

Structure and Surface

  • Earth is a terrestrial planet. It is small and rocky.
  • Earth's atmosphere is the right thickness to keep the planet warm so living things like us can be there. It’s the only planet in our solar system we know of that supports life. It is mostly nitrogen, and it has plenty of oxygen for us to breathe.

Time on Earth

  • A day on Earth lasts a little under 24 hours.
  • One year on Earth lasts 365.25 days. That 0.25 extra means every four years we need to add one day to our calendar. We call it a leap day (in a leap year ).

Earth’s Neighbors

  • Earth has just one Moon. It is the only planet to have just one moon.
  • Earth has lots of spacecraft watching it. There is still a lot we can learn about our home planet.
  • Earth is the third planet from the Sun in our solar system. That means Venus and Mars are Earth’s neighboring planets.

Quick History

  • We have known about our planet since ancient times, of course. But we didn’t know our place in the solar system for a long time.

What does Earth look like?

A photo of Earth in the background looking very small. The moon's surface is in the foreground, so Earth is rising over the moon.

This Apollo 11 picture taken by an astronaut in 1969 shows the Earth rising over the Moon. Doesn't it look small?

A photo of the northern portion of the Earth. Swirls of white cover it.

This is a view of Earth looking just at the northern portion.

A photo of Earth showing North and South America, oceans, and swirling clouds.

A NASA camera on the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite took this picture of the entire sunlit side of Earth from one million miles away.

For more information visit:

Earth. Your home. Our Mission.

Related Resources for Educators

Real World: A-Train Our World: A-Train Real World: Earth Systems

Explore the Solar System

a cartoon of the Sun with a smiling face.

If you liked this, you may like:

Illustration of a game controller that links to the Space Place Games menu.

Planet Earth: Everything you need to know

Earth is the only planet known to support life. Learn about what Earth is made of and where it came from.

Planet Earth

  • Earth's orbit
  • Earth's formation

Earth FAQs answered by an expert

  • Earth's core
  • Earth's magnetosphere

Earth's atmosphere

  • Earth's composition

Earth's moon

Earth observation, life on earth.

Earth, our home, is the third planet from the sun . While scientists continue to hunt for clues of life beyond Earth, our home planet remains the only place in the universe where we've ever identified living organisms. 

Earth is the fifth-largest planet in the solar system. It's smaller than the four gas giants — Jupiter , Saturn , Uranus and Neptune — but larger than the three other rocky planets, Mercury , Mars and Venus .

Earth has a diameter of roughly 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) and is mostly round because gravity generally pulls matter into a ball. But the spin of our home planet causes it to be squashed at its poles and swollen at the equator, making the true shape of the Earth an "oblate spheroid."

Related: How big is Earth?

Our planet is unique for many reasons, but its available water and oxygen are two defining features. Water covers roughly 71% of Earth's surface, with most of that water located in our planet's oceans. About a fifth of Earth's atmosphere consists of oxygen, produced by plants. 

Related: 15 places on Earth that look exoplanetary

Planet Earth's orbit around the sun

While Earth orbits the sun, the planet is simultaneously spinning around an imaginary line called an axis that runs through the core, from the North Pole to the South Pole. It takes Earth 23.934 hours to complete a rotation on its axis and 365.26 days to complete an orbit around the sun — our days and years on Earth are defined by these gyrations.

Earth's axis of rotation is tilted in relation to the ecliptic plane, an imaginary surface through the planet's orbit around the sun. This means the Northern and Southern Hemispheres will sometimes point toward or away from the sun depending on the time of year, and this changes the amount of light the hemispheres receive, resulting in the changing seasons .

Earth happens to orbit the sun within the so-called " Goldilocks zone ," where temperatures are just right to maintain liquid water on our planet's surface. Earth's orbit is not a perfect circle, but rather a slightly oval-shaped ellipse, similar to the orbits of all the other planets in our solar system. Our planet is a bit closer to the sun in early January and farther away in July, although this proximity has a much smaller effect on the temperatures we experience on the planet's surface than does the tilt of Earth's axis. 

Statistics about Earth's orbit, according to NASA :

  • Average distance from the sun : 92,956,050 miles (149,598,262 km)
  • Perihelion (closest approach to the sun): 91,402,640 miles (147,098,291 km)
  • Aphelion (farthest distance from the sun): 94,509,460 miles (152,098,233 km)
  • Length of solar day (single rotation on its axis): 23.934 hours
  • Length of year (single revolution around the sun): 365.26 days
  • Equatorial inclination to orbit: 23.4393 degrees

solar system orbits

How did Earth form?

Scientists think Earth was formed at roughly the same time as the sun and other planets some 4.6 billion years ago when the solar system coalesced from a giant, rotating cloud of gas and dust known as the solar nebula . As the nebula collapsed under the force of its own gravity, it spun faster and flattened into a disk. Most of the material in that disk was then pulled toward the center to form the sun.

Other particles within the disk collided and stuck together to form ever-larger bodies, including Earth. Scientists think Earth started off as a waterless mass of rock .

"It was thought that because of these asteroids and comets flying around colliding with Earth, conditions on early Earth may have been hellish," Simone Marchi, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, previously told Space.com . 

However, analyses of minerals trapped within ancient microscopic crystals suggest that there was liquid water already present on Earth during its first 500 million years, Marchi said.

Radioactive materials in the rock and increasing pressure deep within the Earth generated enough heat to melt the planet's interior, causing some chemicals to rise to the surface and form water, while others became the gases of the atmosphere. Recent evidence suggests that Earth's crust and oceans may have formed within about 200 million years after the planet took shape.

Related: 10 Earth impact craters you must see

Artist's conception of the dust and gas surrounding a newly formed planetary system.

We asked Jack Wright an ESA Internal Research Fellow a few commonly asked questions about our planet, Earth.  

Headshot of Jack Wright

Jack Wright, is an Internal Research Fellow with the European Space Agency (ESA).  

What sets Earth apart from other planets in the solar system?

From what we know so far, Earth is the only planet that hosts life and the only one in the Solar System with liquid water on the surface. Earth is also the only planet in the solar system with active plate tectonics, where the surface of the planet is divided into rigid plates that collide and move apart, causing earthquakes , mountain building, and volcanism. Sites of volcanism along Earth's submarine plate boundaries are considered to be potential environments where life could have first emerged. 

What makes our planet uniquely suitable to host life?

Earth is the right distance from the sun, such that liquid water has been stable in significant volumes over much of the planet's lifetime. It has the right chemical ingredients for life (e.g. water and carbon), and chemical cycling (such as between the planet's interior and oceans by volcanism and other geological activity) provides chemical pathways for life to extract energy to survive. 

Additional factors that have allowed the evolution of complex life are an oxygenated atmosphere, and protection from solar radiation by its magnetic field.

Which planet is closest to Earth in terms of distance?

New findings show that considering the average distance, Mercury is the nearest planet to Earth; considering the smallest possible distance, instead, Venus is closest. 

Is Mercury the most similar to ours in the solar system?

No. Mercury has no atmosphere and it has an old surface covered in impact craters, so it is very unlike Earth. One similarity is that Mercury and Earth both have internally generated magnetic fields. Venus and Earth are very similar in size. There is emerging evidence for active volcanism on Venus, however, its atmosphere is up to 100 times denser than Earth's and is mostly carbon dioxide with sulfuric acid clouds. The surface of Saturn's moon Titan physically resembles Earth's, with mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas. The difference is that Titan's mountains are made from water ice, which is as strong as rock under its surface temperature (-180°C), and the rivers and seas are full of hydrocarbons.

How many planets in the Milky Way could have conditions like Earth?

Scientists estimated that 1 in 5 stars like our sun has one Earth-like planet orbiting around them, which may support life. Considering that there are more than 200 billion stars in our Milky Way, there might be an estimated 40 billion planets that might support life in our galaxy. 

Why is it vital to preserve our planet?

Earth observation from space provides objective coverage across both space and time. The same space-based sensor gathers data from sites across the world, including places too remote or otherwise inaccessible for ground-based data acquisition.

And because Earth observation satellites remain in place for long periods of time, they can highlight environmental changes occurring gradually. Looking back through archived satellite data shows us the steady clearing of the world's rainforests, an apparent annual rise in sea level approaching 2 mm a year, and the increase of atmospheric pollution.

In the long term, this monitoring of the Earth's environment will enable a reliable assessment of the global impact of human activity and the likely future extent of climate change.

The scientific evidence of global climate change is irrefutable. The consequences of a warming climate are far-reaching  —  affecting freshwater resources, global food production, and sea level and triggering an increase in extreme weather events. In order to tackle climate change, scientists and decision-makers need reliable data to understand how our planet is changing.

For more than three decades, Earth-observing satellites have been providing the facts needed to address the challenges of our changing world.

Earth is the only naturally habitable planet for complex (e.g. human) life in the solar system. The consequences of a warming climate are far-reaching and are already threatening some people's ways of life and damaging wider biodiversity. If Earth becomes uninhabitable we have nowhere else to go. Colonizing the Moon and Mars is no substitute for preserving Earth. The Moon and Mars cannot sustain Earth's population of humans and other organisms.

Earth's internal structure

Earth's core is about 4,400 miles (7,100 km) wide, slightly larger than half the Earth's diameter and about the same size as Mars. The outermost 1,400 miles (2,250 km) of the core are liquid, while the inner core is solid. That solid core is about four-fifths as big as Earth's moon, at some 1,600 miles (2,600 km) in diameter. The core is responsible for the planet's magnetic field , which helps to deflect harmful charged particles shot from the sun. 

Above the core is Earth's mantle, which is about 1,800 miles (2,900 km) thick. The mantle is not completely stiff but can flow slowly. Earth's crust floats on the mantle much as a piece of wood floats on water. The slow motion of rock in the mantle shuffles continents around and causes earthquakes, volcanoes and the formation of mountain ranges.

Related: Earth's layers: Exploring our planet inside and out

Above the mantle, Earth has two kinds of crust. The dry land of the continents consists mostly of granite and other light silicate minerals, while the ocean floors are made up mostly of a dark, dense volcanic rock called basalt. Continental crust averages some 25 miles (40 km) thick, although it can be thinner or thicker in some areas. Oceanic crust is usually only about 5 miles (8 km) thick. Water fills in low areas of the basalt crust to form the world's oceans.

Earth gets warmer toward its core. At the bottom of the continental crust, temperatures reach about 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius), increasing about 3 degrees F per mile (1 degree C per km) below the crust. Geologists think the temperature of Earth's outer core is about 6,700 to 7,800 degrees F (3,700 to 4,300 degrees C) and that the inner core may reach 12,600 degrees F (7,000 degrees C) — hotter than the surface of the sun.

Earth's layers shown in this modified NASA image.

Earth's magnetic field

Earth's magnetic field is generated by currents flowing in Earth's outer core. The magnetic poles are always on the move, with the magnetic North Pole accelerating its northward motion to 24 miles (40 km) annually since tracking began in the 1830s. It will likely exit North America and reach Siberia in a matter of decades.

Earth's magnetic field is changing in other ways, too. Globally, the magnetic field has weakened 10 percent since the 19th century, according to NASA . 

But these changes are mild compared to what Earth's magnetic field has done in the past. A few times in every million years or so, the field completely flips, with the North and the South poles swapping places. The magnetic field can take anywhere from 100 to 3,000 years to complete the flip, Space.com previously reported .

The strength of Earth's magnetic field decreased by about 90 percent when a field reversal occurred in ancient past, according to Andrew Roberts, a professor at the Australian National University. The drop makes the planet more vulnerable to solar storms and radiation, which could significantly damage satellites as well as communication and electrical infrastructure.

"Hopefully, such an event is a long way in the future and we can develop future technologies to avoid huge damage," Roberts said in a statement .

When charged particles from the sun get trapped in Earth's magnetic field, they smash into air molecules above the magnetic poles, causing them to glow. This phenomenon is known as the auroras , the northern and southern lights.

Earth is surrounded by a thin layer of atmosphere.

Earth's atmosphere is roughly 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen, with trace amounts of water, argon, carbon dioxide and other gases. No other planet in the solar system has an atmosphere loaded with free oxygen, which is vital to one of the other unique features of Earth: life.

Air surrounds Earth and becomes thinner farther from the surface. Roughly 100 miles (160 km) above Earth, the air is so thin that satellites can zip through the atmosphere with little resistance. Still, traces of atmosphere can be found as high as 370 miles (600 km) above the planet's surface.

The lowest layer of the atmosphere is known as the troposphere, which is constantly in motion and why we have weather. Sunlight heats the planet's surface, causing warm air to rise into the troposphere. This air expands and cools as air pressure decreases, and because this cool air is denser than its surroundings, it then sinks and gets warmed by the Earth again.

Above the troposphere, some 30 miles (48 km) above the Earth's surface, is the stratosphere. The still air of the stratosphere contains the ozone layer, which was created when ultraviolet light caused trios of oxygen atoms to bind together into ozone molecules. Ozone prevents most of the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation from reaching Earth's surface, where it can damage and mutate life.

Water vapor, carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere trap heat from the sun, warming Earth. Without this so-called " greenhouse effect ," Earth would probably be too cold for life to exist, although a runaway greenhouse effect led to the hellish conditions of Venus' current surface.

Earth-orbiting satellites have shown that the upper atmosphere actually expands during the day and contracts at night due to heating and cooling.

Earth's chemical composition

Oxygen is the most abundant element in rocks in Earth's crust, composing roughly 47 percent of the weight of all rock. The second most abundant element is silicon , at 27 percent, followed by aluminum , at 8 percent; iron , at 5%; calcium , at 4%; and sodium , potassium and magnesium , at about 2% each.

Earth's core consists mostly of iron and nickel and potentially smaller amounts of lighter elements, such as sulfur and oxygen. The mantle is made of iron and magnesium-rich silicate rocks (the combination of silicon and oxygen is known as silica, and minerals that contain silica are known as silicate minerals).

Moon above horizon

Earth's moon is 2,159 miles (3,474 km) wide, about one fourth of Earth's diameter. Our planet has one moon, while Mercury and Venus have none and all the other planets in our solar system have two or more.

The leading explanation for how Earth's moon formed is that a giant impact knocked the raw ingredients for the moon off the primitive, molten Earth and into orbit. Scientists have suggested that the object that hit the planet had roughly 10% the mass of Earth — about the size of Mars.

Astronauts and scientists have learned a lot about our planet by leaving it. From 240 miles (408 kilometers) away, aboard the International Space Station (ISS), astronauts are able to observe the thin, fragile atmosphere of Earth. 

Meanwhile, satellites orbiting Earth can track the planet's responses to changes —caused naturally and by humans– on a greater scale. Satellites have been launched to detect changes in the hole in the ozone layer, monitor cloud coverage and weather patterns and manage humans' use of Earth's resources. 

Earth from the ISS

Earth is the only planet in the universe known to possess life. The planet boasts several million described species, living in habitats ranging from the bottom of the deepest ocean to a few miles up into the atmosphere. Researchers think far more species remain that have yet to be described to science.

Researchers suspect that other candidates for hosting life in our solar system — such as Saturn's moon Titan or Jupiter's moon Europa — could house primitive living creatures. Scientists have yet to precisely nail down exactly how our primitive ancestors first showed up on Earth, although most believe that a chemical soup on the planet gave rise to the building blocks of living organisms. (The precise set of circumstances necessary to create life from a lifeless planet are pretty unlikely, according to previous Space.com report , so it seems we got very lucky.)

Read more from Live Science: How did life arise on Earth?

Another theory suggests that life first evolved on the nearby planet Mars, which could once have been habitable, then traveled to Earth on meteorites hurled from the Red Planet by impacts from other space rocks.

"It's lucky that we ended up here, nevertheless, as certainly Earth has been the better of the two planets for sustaining life," biochemist Steven Benner, of the Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology in Florida, told Space.com . "If our hypothetical Martian ancestors had remained on Mars, there might not have been a story to tell."

Additional resources

  • Read more about our planet in " A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters " (Custom House, 2021) by Andrew H. Knoll.
  • Check out NASA 's page all about planet Earth.
  • Consider a different perspective from Discover Magazine about what makes Earth unique: its minerals.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Get the Space.com Newsletter

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

Charles Q. Choi

Charles Q. Choi is a contributing writer for Space.com and Live Science. He covers all things human origins and astronomy as well as physics, animals and general science topics. Charles has a Master of Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Florida. Charles has visited every continent on Earth, drinking rancid yak butter tea in Lhasa, snorkeling with sea lions in the Galapagos and even climbing an iceberg in Antarctica. Visit him at http://www.sciwriter.us

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essay about earth planet

  • Essay On Save Earth

Save Earth Essay

500+ words essay on save earth.

Taking care of our Earth is no longer an option – it is a necessity. There is no other alternative planet where life is possible other than Earth. Since the beginning of our existence, we have exploited nature by cutting innumerable trees to build infrastructure and killing animals for food. We have extracted minerals, crystals, and gems from the womb of the Earth. We have taken and used whatever natural wealth there is to take and are now facing the grave consequences of nature’s pushback. We must realise that the Earth’s resources are not limitless. They are depleting fast, and this threatens our existence on the planet that we call home. Thus, it’s crucial that we should take care of and save Mother Earth. This essay on ‘Save Earth’ will help us to understand the current condition of our planet and what measures we can take to save Earth. We have also compiled a list of CBSE Essays for students to boost their essay-writing skills.

Alarming Situation of Earth

The Earth has reached an alarming state. It’s high time for us to take action. Human activities have impacted the atmosphere and climate conditions of the Earth. It has had such an impact that the seasons have shifted. Now, there is a delay in the monsoon. The summer is becoming too hot and glaciers are melting. The sea level is rising, and aquatic life is on the verge of extinction. Pollution is increasing, and the air quality is getting worse day by day. The water is getting polluted, and the noise level is rising, due to which most of the people are getting ill. Global warming and the greenhouse effect are the results of human activities, which are now causing threats to human life itself. So, if we are not going to act now, then it will be too late, and till then, the existence of life on Earth will end.

Different Ways to Save Earth

To save Earth, we all have to come up together to make a difference. One person can not make up the difference, but we all together can do the miracle. We have to take care of small things in our daily routines, such as switching off the lights when not in need, closing the tap and using the water properly, and avoiding the use of plastic and non-biodegradable material at home. We should focus on solar and renewable sources of energy, such as solar heaters and panels. Take out the private vehicle or car only when required and prefer using public transport.

We should try to educate other people about the alarming situation on Earth and guide them on how they can contribute to saving the Earth. For this, various campaigns or group activities can be performed in public places to raise awareness. Also, we should plant more and more trees in our neighbourhood. We should adopt and promote an eco-friendly lifestyle. We must teach our kids the value of our planet, so they will also adapt to sustainable living and not exploit our planet. Remember, every little step does make a difference!

Students must have found this essay on saving Earth useful for practising their essay writing skills. They can get the study material and the latest updates on CBSE/ICSE/State Board/Competitive Exams at BYJU’S.

Frequently Asked Questions on Saving our Earth Essay

What are the simple steps to be followed to save our earth.

Simple steps to save our Earth include volunteering to clean up the community and public places, ensuring water and soil conservation, planting trees on special occasions and making this a habit, avoiding shopping for unwanted things and controlling pollution.

Is Global warming connected to the ‘Save our Earth’ notion?

Yes, global warming is a situation that is causing a lot of natural calamities around the world. Saving the Earth is said to definitely reduce the effects of Global warming.

Are we destroying planet Earth by expanding infrastructure?

Several acres of forest area are now being converted into construction sites as a part of infrastructure development. In turn, the wildlife and animals which belong to these forests are left homeless, thereby causing a great natural imbalance.

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

essay about earth planet

  • Updated on  
  • Nov 11, 2023

Essay On Save Earth

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

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 ! 

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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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Save Earth Essay

Earth is the only known planet with life in the universe. As a result, we must cherish and preserve whatever we obtain from our mother planet. We must protect Mother Earth so that future generations can live in a safe environment. Here are a few sample essays on the topic “Save the Earth”.

100 Words Essay On Save Earth

Apart from Earth, there is no other known planet where life is feasible. It is the only known planet with the combination of the essential natural resources, oxygen, water, and gravity, allowing for a successful life. We must protect the planet by implementing numerous practical steps to leave a healthy world for future generations. People should plant more trees to ensure adequate oxygen levels and to mitigate the effects of air pollution and global warming.

Save Earth Essay

We must stop destroying rainforests, which are vital to our way of life, the atmosphere, and the habitats of numerous animals. To rescue the environment from global warming, people should reduce their use of power and use less fossil fuel. To avoid damaging the planet, they should promote the usage of solar lights and wind energy. The 3R rule (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) is quite helpful in conserving our planet.

200 Words Essay On Save Earth

Earth is the most valuable thing to its inhabitants because it contains oxygen and water, both of which are necessary for life. The earth's natural resources are deteriorating day by day as a result of different human activities. It endangers life on Earth. Several woodland animals have become extinct due to a lack of a suitable environment.

Pollution, global warming, and other environmental challenges are becoming more prevalent daily. It is critical to end all bad practices to mitigate their detrimental impacts. Every year on April 22nd, Earth Day is observed to raise awareness among people all around the world. It is marked annually to recognise people's efforts to preserve the earth's natural environment.

Our earth requires us to take care of it and leave it in a better condition that we found it. It is necessary to continue healthy life on Earth. We are not the only ones living on Earth; several unknown living species exist.

So, instead of being selfish, we should consider the well being all living species on the planet. We should safeguard our planet and ecology by lowering the amount of garbage, such as plastic, paper, and wood. To reduce waste, we should practice reusing and recycling items such as clothing, toys, furniture, books, and documents. We must reduce all those activities contributing to increased pollution and global warming.

500 Words Essay On Save Earth

Earth and its resources enable life to exist on it. It would be impossible to envision our life without these resources because life cannot exist without sunlight, air, vegetation, and water. However, this will soon become our reality if we do not save the planet today.

The resources that the earth supplies are limited. They are blessings that we do not recognise. Humans have become selfish and are rapidly depleting the earth's resources. We must safeguard them to preserve our own life. This is because man and all living species rely on the planet for sustenance.

It Is The Need Of The Hour

To argue that safeguarding the environment is urgent would be an understatement. Human actions motivated by greed and selfishness have wreaked havoc on the environment. It has been damaged beyond repair. Because of these activities, almost all natural resources are now poisoned.

When all of these resources are threatened, the lives of all living organisms are in jeopardy. This is why we must save the planet at any cost. All other concerns are secondary, with the primary priority preserving the environment. Because when the world ceases to exist, all other difficulties will vanish.

Earth is the only planet capable of supporting life. We need a planet B to which we can travel. This heightens the urgency of saving the planet and our life. We will lose the opportunity to watch our future generations thrive if we do not take extreme action today. Everyone must band together for the exact causes because we are first and foremost inhabitants of this planet.

How To Save The Earth

Humans only need to take action to conserve the earth and its resources because all human activities impact the existence of other organisms. Everyone will benefit from a little extra effort. Every action will have an effect. For example, if one person decides to quit drinking bottled water, thousands of pounds of plastic can be avoided.

Furthermore, we should begin by planting more trees to compensate for the tremendous deforestation. We can restore ecological balance and improve people's quality of life by planting more trees.

Similarly, we must reduce water waste. Individually, this will have a significant influence on water conservation. We must not contaminate our bodies of water by putting rubbish into them. It is critical to conserve water, especially when rapidly running short.

We can conserve the planet by preserving trees, vegetation, water, natural resources, and power. We must firmly adhere to all available measures to control pollution and global warming. Everyone should plant more trees in their neighbourhoods to help reduce pollution and the effects of global warming. Afforestation, reforestation, recycling of used paper and other natural products, and conservation of natural resources, power, water, and the environment should be supported and promoted.

To summarise, the government and individuals must work together to save the planet. We can educate people about the repercussions of not saving the earth. They can be taught how and what they can do to help save the planet. We can save our world and make it brighter if we all work together.

Explore Career Options (By Industry)

  • Construction
  • Entertainment
  • Manufacturing
  • Information Technology

Data Administrator

Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.

Bio Medical Engineer

The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary. 

Ethical Hacker

A career as ethical hacker involves various challenges and provides lucrative opportunities in the digital era where every giant business and startup owns its cyberspace on the world wide web. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path try to find the vulnerabilities in the cyber system to get its authority. If he or she succeeds in it then he or she gets its illegal authority. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path then steal information or delete the file that could affect the business, functioning, or services of the organization.

GIS officer work on various GIS software to conduct a study and gather spatial and non-spatial information. GIS experts update the GIS data and maintain it. The databases include aerial or satellite imagery, latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates, and manually digitized images of maps. In a career as GIS expert, one is responsible for creating online and mobile maps.

Data Analyst

The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.

Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.

Geothermal Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as geothermal engineers are the professionals involved in the processing of geothermal energy. The responsibilities of geothermal engineers may vary depending on the workplace location. Those who work in fields design facilities to process and distribute geothermal energy. They oversee the functioning of machinery used in the field.

Database Architect

If you are intrigued by the programming world and are interested in developing communications networks then a career as database architect may be a good option for you. Data architect roles and responsibilities include building design models for data communication networks. Wide Area Networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), and intranets are included in the database networks. It is expected that database architects will have in-depth knowledge of a company's business to develop a network to fulfil the requirements of the organisation. Stay tuned as we look at the larger picture and give you more information on what is db architecture, why you should pursue database architecture, what to expect from such a degree and what your job opportunities will be after graduation. Here, we will be discussing how to become a data architect. Students can visit NIT Trichy , IIT Kharagpur , JMI New Delhi . 

Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive. 

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Finance Executive

Product manager.

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.  

Operations Manager

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Stock Analyst

Individuals who opt for a career as a stock analyst examine the company's investments makes decisions and keep track of financial securities. The nature of such investments will differ from one business to the next. Individuals in the stock analyst career use data mining to forecast a company's profits and revenues, advise clients on whether to buy or sell, participate in seminars, and discussing financial matters with executives and evaluate annual reports.

A Researcher is a professional who is responsible for collecting data and information by reviewing the literature and conducting experiments and surveys. He or she uses various methodological processes to provide accurate data and information that is utilised by academicians and other industry professionals. Here, we will discuss what is a researcher, the researcher's salary, types of researchers.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues. 

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems. 

Safety Manager

A Safety Manager is a professional responsible for employee’s safety at work. He or she plans, implements and oversees the company’s employee safety. A Safety Manager ensures compliance and adherence to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) guidelines.

Conservation Architect

A Conservation Architect is a professional responsible for conserving and restoring buildings or monuments having a historic value. He or she applies techniques to document and stabilise the object’s state without any further damage. A Conservation Architect restores the monuments and heritage buildings to bring them back to their original state.

Structural Engineer

A Structural Engineer designs buildings, bridges, and other related structures. He or she analyzes the structures and makes sure the structures are strong enough to be used by the people. A career as a Structural Engineer requires working in the construction process. It comes under the civil engineering discipline. A Structure Engineer creates structural models with the help of computer-aided design software. 

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description:  A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Field Surveyor

Are you searching for a Field Surveyor Job Description? A Field Surveyor is a professional responsible for conducting field surveys for various places or geographical conditions. He or she collects the required data and information as per the instructions given by senior officials. 

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Pathologist

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Veterinary Doctor

Speech therapist, gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth. 

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Are you searching for an ‘Anatomist job description’? An Anatomist is a research professional who applies the laws of biological science to determine the ability of bodies of various living organisms including animals and humans to regenerate the damaged or destroyed organs. If you want to know what does an anatomist do, then read the entire article, where we will answer all your questions.

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs. 

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Choreographer

The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Photographer

Photography is considered both a science and an art, an artistic means of expression in which the camera replaces the pen. In a career as a photographer, an individual is hired to capture the moments of public and private events, such as press conferences or weddings, or may also work inside a studio, where people go to get their picture clicked. Photography is divided into many streams each generating numerous career opportunities in photography. With the boom in advertising, media, and the fashion industry, photography has emerged as a lucrative and thrilling career option for many Indian youths.

An individual who is pursuing a career as a producer is responsible for managing the business aspects of production. They are involved in each aspect of production from its inception to deception. Famous movie producers review the script, recommend changes and visualise the story. 

They are responsible for overseeing the finance involved in the project and distributing the film for broadcasting on various platforms. A career as a producer is quite fulfilling as well as exhaustive in terms of playing different roles in order for a production to be successful. Famous movie producers are responsible for hiring creative and technical personnel on contract basis.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook. 

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion. 

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article. 

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Individuals who opt for a career as a reporter may often be at work on national holidays and festivities. He or she pitches various story ideas and covers news stories in risky situations. Students can pursue a BMC (Bachelor of Mass Communication) , B.M.M. (Bachelor of Mass Media) , or  MAJMC (MA in Journalism and Mass Communication) to become a reporter. While we sit at home reporters travel to locations to collect information that carries a news value.  

Corporate Executive

Are you searching for a Corporate Executive job description? A Corporate Executive role comes with administrative duties. He or she provides support to the leadership of the organisation. A Corporate Executive fulfils the business purpose and ensures its financial stability. In this article, we are going to discuss how to become corporate executive.

Multimedia Specialist

A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications. 

Quality Controller

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product. 

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Production Manager

A QA Lead is in charge of the QA Team. The role of QA Lead comes with the responsibility of assessing services and products in order to determine that he or she meets the quality standards. He or she develops, implements and manages test plans. 

Process Development Engineer

The Process Development Engineers design, implement, manufacture, mine, and other production systems using technical knowledge and expertise in the industry. They use computer modeling software to test technologies and machinery. An individual who is opting career as Process Development Engineer is responsible for developing cost-effective and efficient processes. They also monitor the production process and ensure it functions smoothly and efficiently.

AWS Solution Architect

An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party. 

Azure Administrator

An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems. 

Computer Programmer

Careers in computer programming primarily refer to the systematic act of writing code and moreover include wider computer science areas. The word 'programmer' or 'coder' has entered into practice with the growing number of newly self-taught tech enthusiasts. Computer programming careers involve the use of designs created by software developers and engineers and transforming them into commands that can be implemented by computers. These commands result in regular usage of social media sites, word-processing applications and browsers.

Information Security Manager

Individuals in the information security manager career path involves in overseeing and controlling all aspects of computer security. The IT security manager job description includes planning and carrying out security measures to protect the business data and information from corruption, theft, unauthorised access, and deliberate attack 

ITSM Manager

Automation test engineer.

An Automation Test Engineer job involves executing automated test scripts. He or she identifies the project’s problems and troubleshoots them. The role involves documenting the defect using management tools. He or she works with the application team in order to resolve any issues arising during the testing process. 

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Essay on Our Beautiful Earth

Students are often asked to write an essay on Our Beautiful 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 Our Beautiful Earth

Introduction.

Our Beautiful Earth is a unique planet brimming with life and beauty. It’s the only known celestial body to support life, making it extraordinary.

Earth’s Beauty

Earth’s beauty is diverse, from towering mountains to deep oceans. The changing seasons further enhance its charm, each bringing its own magic.

Nature’s Wonders

The Earth is home to various species of plants and animals. The diversity in ecosystems, from dense forests to arid deserts, is truly amazing.

Our Responsibility

As inhabitants, it’s our responsibility to preserve Earth’s beauty. By practicing sustainable living, we can ensure a healthy planet for future generations.

250 Words Essay on Our Beautiful Earth

Introduction: a blue marble in space.

Our beautiful Earth, a celestial body in the solar system, is an awe-inspiring testament to the universe’s capacity for life. It is a unique oasis, a ‘blue marble’ as seen from space, with its swirling clouds, blue oceans, and green landmasses.

The Earth’s Biodiversity

Earth’s biodiversity is a marvel, with millions of species coexisting in various ecosystems. From the microscopic organisms dwelling in the deepest trenches of the oceans to the gigantic mammals roaming the vast savannahs, Earth is a cradle of life. The intricate web of life forms an interconnected system, where each species plays a crucial role in maintaining the overall balance.

Earth’s Geographical Wonders

The geographical wonders of Earth are equally mesmerizing. Towering mountain ranges, expansive deserts, lush rainforests, tranquil lakes, and roaring rivers all contribute to the planet’s stunning beauty. Each geographical feature represents a different facet of Earth’s dynamic nature, shaped by millions of years of geological processes.

Human Interaction with Earth

Humans, as intelligent beings, have the privilege and responsibility of interacting with Earth in a mindful manner. Our actions can either enhance Earth’s beauty or lead to its degradation. The current environmental crisis is a stark reminder of the consequences of irresponsible interaction. Therefore, it is imperative to adopt sustainable practices to preserve Earth’s beauty for future generations.

Conclusion: A Call for Preservation

Our beautiful Earth is an irreplaceable gem in the vast cosmos. As we marvel at its beauty, we must also remember our duty to protect and preserve it. The Earth does not belong to us; we belong to the Earth. In this understanding lies the key to ensuring the continued beauty and vitality of our shared home.

500 Words Essay on Our Beautiful Earth

The splendor of our beautiful earth.

The Earth, our shared home, is an enchanting spectacle of life, diversity, and beauty. Its grandeur is not confined to its biological diversity, but extends to its geographical peculiarities, climatic variations, and the intricate harmony that exists among its various elements.

Geographical Diversity

Earth’s geographical diversity is a testament to its beauty. From the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the sandy dunes of the Sahara, the geographical variations are profound. The verdant Amazon rainforest, the expansive savannas of Africa, the serene beaches of the Caribbean, and the icy landscapes of the Arctic, all contribute to the Earth’s stunning panorama. Each geographical feature holds a unique charm, offering a different perspective of beauty.

Climatic Variations

The climatic variations on Earth further add to its allure. The Earth’s tilt and revolution result in distinct seasons, each with its unique characteristics. The blossoming of flowers in spring, the warmth of summer, the falling leaves of autumn, and the serenity of winter, all present a cyclic spectacle of change and renewal. These climatic variations not only add to the Earth’s beauty but also play a crucial role in the survival and evolution of various species.

Biodiversity: The Earth’s Living Tapestry

Earth’s biodiversity is another aspect that accentuates its beauty. It is home to an estimated 8.7 million species, each with its unique traits and roles in the ecosystem. From the microscopic organisms in the ocean depths to the majestic elephants in the African plains, life on Earth is a vibrant tapestry of interdependence and co-existence. This biodiversity is a testament to the Earth’s capacity to sustain life in all its forms, adding to the planet’s aesthetic and intrinsic value.

The Harmony of Earth

Perhaps the most striking feature of our beautiful Earth is the harmony that exists among its various elements. The water cycle, carbon cycle, and nitrogen cycle are all examples of how different components of the Earth interact to maintain balance. This intricate harmony is a testament to the Earth’s resilience and its ability to support life. The Earth’s beauty lies not just in its individual components, but in the way these components interact and co-exist to create a balanced and sustainable system.

While we marvel at the Earth’s beauty, we must also acknowledge our responsibility towards its preservation. The Earth’s beauty is under threat due to human activities like deforestation, pollution, and climate change. As inhabitants of this beautiful planet, it is our duty to protect and preserve it for future generations.

In conclusion, our Earth is a beautiful entity, a complex amalgamation of various elements working in harmony. Its beauty lies in its diversity, its capacity to sustain life, and its resilience. As we continue to explore and understand our planet, let’s also strive to protect and preserve its beauty. After all, there is no Planet B.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

  • Essay on My Earth My Responsibility
  • Essay on Importance of Earth
  • Essay on Importance of Earth Day

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5 reasons why you should love Earth

Get the dirt on our planet and what makes it so awesome.

The planet is one big party.

Earth is the only planet in our galaxy that can support life. Scientists estimate that Earth is home to about 300,000 plant species, over 600,000 species of fungi, and about ten million animal species. Guess you could say we’re the life of the party.

Earth has a superpower—it sports an invisible shield.

Earth is surrounded by a cloud of gas called the plasmasphere. This cloud interacts with rings of particles that also surround the planet to create an invisible shield. The “armor” deflects superfast electrons that zip through space and could harm Earth if they were able to enter the atmosphere.

This planet is into recycling.

The ground you walk on is recycled. It starts off as sizzling-hot magma deep within the planet’s core. This is pushed up to the surface, where it cools and becomes hard rock. Winds erode the rock , shaving off tiny fragments that get buried back into the earth, where they’re reheated into magma. Then the cycle starts again. Good to know Earth is so green.

Earth is in the perfect position.

Earth spins around a tilted axis, or an imaginary line that runs through the planet from the South Pole to the North Pole . If the planet were angled any differently, or if Earth were even just a little closer to or farther from the sun, temperatures would shift drastically. And that would make life here impossible.

Our planet is a mystery.

About 95 percent of the Earth’s oceans (which make up more than 70 percent of the planet) remain unexplored. Scientists estimate almost a million undiscovered species could live in these unseen seas. Some lands, like parts of the rain forests in New Guinea, are also uncharted. This means that many things on Earth have yet to be discovered.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY VKBHAT, ISTOCKPHOTO; NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER; ANG WEE HENG JOHN, DREAMSTIME; THEOWL84, ISTOCKPHOTO; PNIESEN, DREAMSTIME

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English Summary

Essay on Earth

Earth is the planet where we live. It is the third planet among the eight planets of Sun and fifth largest among them. It is the only planet where human and other species can live. Essential substances like air, water and land supports life on earth.

Earth is made of rocks and came into existence billions of year ago. However, 70% of the surface of the earth is covered by water which we see as the ocean, sea, and rivers and remaining 30% is covered by land.

Like other planets earth also moves around the Sun in a fixed way called orbit. It takes 364 days and 6 hours to complete a round around the Sun. Which we count as a year.

Along with the movement, Earth also rotates on its axis from east to west and complete a rotation in 24 hours which we call a solar day. In that rotation, some of the places on earth face sun and other places get hide from the sun alternatively, which we experienced as day and night.

Earth is made up of three layers that is core, mantle and crust. The center is called Core which generally very hot. The outer layer is call crust and in between core and crust, the middle part is known as mantle. We live on outer layer which is made of rocks.

Along with human earth is home to millions of species and plants. The presence of water on the surface of the earth and air in the atmosphere makes life possible here. As only livable planet of the sun we should respect and protect our earth from our wrong practices.

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Essay On Earth – 10 Lines, Short And Long Essay For Kids

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  • Key Points To Remember When Writing An Essay On Earth For Lower Primary Classes
  • 5 Lines On The Earth For Children
  • 10 Lines On The Earth For Kids
  • A Paragraph On Earth For Children
  • Short Essay On Earth In English For Kids
  • Long Essay On Earth In English For Children

Amazing Facts About Earth For Kids

  • What Will Your Child Learn From The Essay On Earth?

The Earth plays a vital role in our lives. It provides us with habitat, water, food, etc. The Earth came into existence millions of years ago, and there have been billions of animals and humans that have walked the same Earth as we do now. The Earth is home to over 5 million species of plants and animals, most of which have still not been identified or recorded. Essay on Earth in English is a common subject in schools as it is an important topic for children to think about and discuss. The Earth can be studied and written about in many different ways; you can write about it in terms of climate change, species, land formation, water composition and even the formation of the solar system and Earth’s position in it. The possibilities are endless! Here, we will discuss essay on Earth for class 1, 2 & 3 for kids.

Key Points To Remember When Writing An Essay On Earth For Lower Primary Classes 

Essay writing is an important skill that children must excel at as it helps them in life. Making their foundations strong helps to develop their skills and focus on improving the content of their essays. While writing essays, there are a few key points that one must remember –

  • The language must be simple and comprehensible. 
  • Teach words and sentences that your child understands and will be able to write when not assisted. 
  • Focus on the very basics, as this is for a lower primary class; children aren’t expected to write in detail.  
  • A good place to start would be what the Earth means to us as humans. What the Earth provides us with.  
  • Take care of the format of the essay. If in paragraph form, ensure that each paragraph is neither too short nor too long. 
  • Be clear about the direction of the essay in the beginning to ensure consistency. 
  • Keeping track of the word limit is key. 

5 Lines On The Earth For Children 

For young children, we will stick to the very basics in this form of the essay. We will note down five basic points about the Earth we live on. We will progressively increase the intensity.  

  • The Earth orbits the Sun, which is the centre of our Solar System. 
  • Earth is the 3rd planet in our Solar System out of eight in total. 
  • It is the only planet which supports life. 
  • It has both land and water bodies. 
  • It has rivers, valleys, mountains, hills, forests, oceans, plains and beaches.  

10 Lines On The Earth For Kids 

Now that we have some basics laid down, we can start adding more details. If we closely observe the essay lines above, we can see the flow of information. We start off with the position of the Earth in the Solar System and then come down to the geographical features of the Earth. Now, we can go into more detail for an essay for class 1 and 2.

Here’s how to describe Earth in a few lines –

  • Our Earth is located in the Milky Way galaxy. 
  • The Sun is the centre of the Solar System, with eight planets revolving around it. 
  • Earth is the 3rd planet from the Sun, and it has one Moon. 
  • It is the only planet in our Solar System which is suitable for sustaining life. 
  • The composition of the Earth’s surface is 70% water and only 30% land. 
  • Water bodies such as oceans, rivers, lakes, glaciers and seas make up 70% of the water content on Earth. 
  • Landforms such as mountains, hills, plateaus and plains are the four major types of land we see on Earth. 
  • The water bodies are home to aquatic animals such as fishes of different species and mammals, crustaceans, reptiles and more.
  • Landforms are home to plants, vertebrates, and invertebrates such as lizards, elephants, eagles, sunflowers, and of course, us humans! 
  • The Earth provides land and aquatic animals with food, water and shelter. We would not have existed without the Earth! 

A Paragraph On Earth For Children 

Now that we are comfortable with writing essays (information) in a numeric form, we can move along to writing essays in paragraph form. Below is a short paragraph on Earth.

Millions of years ago, the Earth was formed in one small corner of the galaxy named the Milky Way. The Big Bang caused the formation of the Sun, eight planets, their moons, and other bodies, such as dwarf planets (Pluto!). The Earth is the only planet in our Solar System which could sustain life. This is due to its strategic position; it is not too close to the Sun, nor is it too far away from the Sun. This, coupled with the right elements, allowed landforms and water bodies to form. This, in turn, supported the evolution of life on Earth. Indeed, the Earth is one of a kind! 

Short Essay On Earth In English For Kids 

Moving on to a slightly longer form of essay, we can start adding in more information and maybe even add paragraphs. Since you have limited words, be choosy about what you wish to write and what you wish to omit. Below is an essay for class 1, 2 and 3 on Earth.

The Milky Way galaxy is home to many stars, planets and planetary systems. One such planetary system is our Solar System. Our Solar System has eight planets, of which Earth is the fourth. The Earth rotates on its axis, which causes days and nights. It also revolves around the Sun in a fixed orbit, which causes the change in seasons.

The strategic position and movement of the Earth support the millions of species of plants and animals that inhabit it. The right elements and external forces allowed the formation of land and water bodies which provide homes and nutrients to the millions of species on the planet.

Water bodies such as oceans, rivers and lakes are homes to aquatic animals like fishes, whales and sea horses. Landforms are home to plants, animals and insects. However, in more recent times, we humans have been overusing our resources as well as polluting the environment, which is negatively affecting the planet and our co-habitants. We must strive to save the planet now before it is too late. 

Long Essay On Earth In English For Children 

Lastly, we will discuss and look at long-form essay for class 3. Since we have more words to play with, we can start going in-depth and look at specific topics. We can also add sub-heads and paragraph breaks. We will first start with an introduction, followed by the subheads.

The Earth is unique. It is indeed one of a kind. When the Big Bang occurred, the right elements, temperature and pressure (among other factors) created the Earth. Subsequently, the topography and the organisms emerged. Years of evolution have brought us to today, where we can study and understand not only the Earth but also other planets and galaxies.  

What Is Earth? 

The word ‘Earth’ is a Germanic word which simply means “the ground.” Earth is the only planet known that homes and nurtures living organisms such as ourselves. It is the fifth largest planet in our Solar System. It is also the only planet which has water on its surface. About 71% of the Earth’s surface is water, while the remaining 29% is land. It has one natural satellite, the Moon. 

Origin Of The Planet Earth 

The beginning of our Universe was the Big Bang. It was too hot, but it slowly cooled down. Different particles started bumping into each other, eventually forming common elements. Our solar system was formed roughly 8.7 years after the Big Bang. All solar systems begin in the same way – from Nebulas. Collapsing of dust and gas molecules within the nebulae causes the formation of planets and stars. The gravitational pull comes into action here and pulls the gas molecules and dust particles together. As these particles increase in size, the attraction between the molecules increases. This eventually forms a planet. However, the planet was still too hot to sustain life. Eventually, the planet began cooling down. The oceans are where the origin of life occurred. Slowly, evolution caused organisms to move onto land too. Over millions of years, the Earth has gone through many cycles of heating up and cooling down. This has resulted in mass extinctions and the wipeout of civilizations and organisms. However, planet Earth has managed to give birth to new organisms and help them evolve every single time. 

Different Layers Of The Earth 

The Earth is made up of three layers – The Crust, The Mantle and The Core 

1. The Crust  

This is the outer-most part of the Earth. It is mostly made up of solid rock and minerals. It is about 40km in thickness and is only 1% of the Earth’s mass. However, this part of the Earth harbours all known life in the Universe.  

2. The Mantle 

This is the middle part of the Earth. It is about 2900kms in thickness, and it consists of hot, dense, iron and magnesium-rich solid rock. The Crust and the Mantle make up the lithosphere, which is broken into plates, both large and small.  

3. The Core 

The core is the innermost part of the Earth. It is further divided into two parts – the liquid outer core and the solid inner core. The temperatures here can rise upwards of 50,000 C.  

Motion Of The Earth 

The Earth has mainly two motions – Rotation and Revolution.  

1. Rotation

The Earth rotates on its axis in a clockwise motion. It takes the Earth 23.9 hours to complete one rotation on its axis. The rotation of the Earth causes the change in day and night. 

2. Revolution

The Earth revolves around the Sun in a fixed orbit in an anticlockwise direction. It takes the Earth 365 days, 6 hours, and 9 minutes to complete one rotation around the Sun. The revolution of the Earth causes the change in seasons.  

How Can We Protect The Mother Earth? 

There are many ways we can protect our Earth. Some ways are: 

  • Be conscious about overusing and overexploiting resources. 
  • Conserve energy, both fuel and electricity. 
  • Do not pollute your surroundings, especially with plastic. 
  • Remember the 3Rs – Reuse, Recycle and Reduce. 
  • Strive to conserve your local flora and fauna.  

Below are something amazing facts about our Earth for kids:

  • The name ‘Earth’ comes from the old English and Germanic words that mean ‘the ground’.  
  • The Earth orbits around the sun at a whopping speed of 30 kilometres per second!  
  • The Earth’s diameter is 12,800 kilometres, making it the 5 th largest planet in our solar system.  
  • The Earth is the only planet known to support life. The availability of abundant oxygen and water makes this possible.  
  • Due to the Moon slowing down Earth’s rotation, the days on Earth are, in fact, getting longer!  

What Will Your Child Learn From The Essay On Earth? 

Your child will learn a lot about our planet, its origins, its movements, etc. The essay on planet earth will also help your child learn how to write a good composition with perfect techniques. This article takes you through essay writing in a step-by-step manner.

1. Why Planet Earth Is Called A Blue Planet? 

Planet Earth is called the Blue Planet because 71% of its surface is covered with water. 

2. When Is World Earth Day Celebrated? 

World Earth Day is celebrated on 22nd April every year.  

Essay On The Sun for Kids Save The Earth Essay for Lower Primary Class Children 10 Lines, Short and Long Essay on Environment for Kids

  • Essays for Class 1
  • Essays for Class 2
  • Essays for Class 3

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Planet vs. Plastics Global Theme for Earth Day 2024

essay about earth planet

Planet vs. Plastics unites students, parents, businesses, governments, churches, unions, individuals, and NGOs in an unwavering commitment to call for the end of plastics for the sake of human and planetary health, demanding a 60% reduction in the production of plastics by 2040 and an ultimate goal of building a plastic-free future for generations to come. 

To achieve a 60% reduction by 2040, EARTHDAY.ORG’s goals are: (1) promoting widespread public awareness of the damage done by plastic to human, animal, and all biodiversity’s health and demanding more research be conducted on its health implications, including the release of any and all information regarding its effects to the public; (2) rapidly phasing out all single use plastics by 2030 and achieving this phase out commitment in the United Nations Treaty on Plastic Pollution in 2024; (3) demanding policies ending the scourge of fast fashion and the vast amount of plastic it produces and uses; and (4) investing in innovative technologies and materials to build a plastic-free world.

“The Planet vs. Plastics campaign is a call to arms, a demand that we act now to end the scourge of plastics and safeguard the health of every living being upon our planet.”  

Kathleen Rogers

“The word environment means what surrounds you. In the case of plastics we have become the product itself – it flows through our blood stream, adheres to our internal organs, and carries with it heavy metals known to cause cancer and disease. Now this once-thought amazing and useful product has become something else, and our health and that of all other living creatures hangs in the balance,” said Kathleen Rogers, President of EARTHDAY.ORG. “The Planet vs. Plastics campaign is a call to arms, a demand that we act now to end the scourge of plastics and safeguard the health of every living being upon our planet.”  

Plastics extend beyond an imminent environmental issue; they present a grave threat to human health as alarming as climate change. As plastics break down into microplastics, they release toxic chemicals into our food and water sources and circulate through the air we breathe. Plastic production now has grown to more than 380 million tons per year. More plastic has been produced in the last ten years than in the entire 20th century, and the industry plans to grow explosively for the indefinite future.

“All this plastic was produced by a petrochemical industry with an abysmal record of toxic emissions, spills, and explosions,” said Denis Hayes, Chair Emeritus of EARTHDAY.ORG. “Plastics are produced in polluting facilities that somehow seem to always be located in the poorest neighborhoods. Some plastics are lethal when combusted; other plastics transmit hormone-disrupting chemicals; and all plastics can starve birds and suffocate sea life. At every stage of their life cycles, from the oil well to the town dump, plastics are a dangerous blight.”

More than 500 billion plastic bags—one million bags per minute—were produced worldwide last year. Many plastic bags have a working life of a few minutes, followed by an afterlife of centuries. Even after plastics disintegrate, they remain as microplastics, minute particles permeating every niche of life on the planet. 

100 billion plastic beverage containers were sold last year in the United States. That’s more than 300 bottles per inhabitant. A few of them will be converted into park benches; none of them will be made into new plastic bottles and 95% of all plastics in the US won’t be recycled at all. Even the 5% of plastics being recycled are “downcycling” to inferior products or shipped to poorer countries for “recycling”, leaving the demand for virgin plastic undiminished.  

People seldom think of water when they think of plastics. But making a plastic water bottle requires six times as much water as the bottle itself contains.

EARTHDAY.ORG demands the International Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC) mandate the end of production of single-use plastic by 2030 in the Global Plastics Treaty. Moreover, it demands the treaty be implemented using the precautionary principle and the polluter pays doctrine. 

“All this plastic was produced by a petrochemical industry with an abysmal record of toxic emissions, spills, and explosions.”

Denis Hayes

Chair emeritus.

The fast fashion industry annually produces over 100 billion garments. Overproduction and overconsumption have transformed the industry, leading to the disposability of fashion. People now buy 60% more clothing than 15 years ago, but each item is kept for only half as long. 

Approximately 85% of garments end up in landfills or incinerators, with only 1% being recycled. Nearly 70% of clothing is made from crude oil, resulting in the release of dangerous microfibers when washed and continued contribution to long-term pollution in landfills. 

Social injustice and fashion are directly intertwined, with exploitative working conditions, low wages, and widespread child labor. For far too long, the industry has relied on a fractured supply chain and an almost total lack of governmental regulation.  

To learn more about Planet vs. Plastics and join the movement for a plastic-free future, please visit: Earth Day 2024 . To educate yourself on the impacts of plastic on human health, check out the Plastics Health Research Module and EARTHDAY.ORG’s Earth Hub for all fact sheets, toolkits, press releases, and articles. 

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An Octopus Took My Camera, and the Images Changed the Way I See the World

A colorful illustrated collage of animals, sea creatures and a person, intertwined.

By Craig Foster

Mr. Foster’s film, “My Octopus Teacher,” won the Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2021. He wrote from Simon’s Town, South Africa.

I was gifted with a new way of seeing the day I got mugged underwater. I had been filming creatures living in the Great African Sea Forest off the coast of South Africa about a year ago when my camera was grabbed straight out of my hands by a young octopus thief. Wrapping her arms around her bounty, she zoomed backward across the ocean floor.

This was not the first time I’d found myself at the mercy of an eight-armed robber. A couple of years earlier, another curious octopus stole the wedding ring off my wife’s finger, never to be recovered. Octopuses love novel shiny things. Peering into their dens, I’ve found earrings, bracelets, spark plugs, sunglasses and a toy car with a revolving cylinder that the octopus spun round and round with its suckers.

As I wondered how to get my camera back without alarming my young friend, something surprising happened. She turned the camera around and began to film my diving partner and me.

The intriguing images she captured — videos of her own arms draped over the camera lens with our bodies in the background — had a profound effect on me. After many years filming octopuses and hundreds of other animals that call the Sea Forest home, for the first time I was seeing the world — and myself — from her perspective.

We must have looked strange to her in our masks and with our underwater flashlights. But in that moment I remembered that despite all our technology, we are not so different from our animal kin. Every breath of air, every drop of water, every bite of food comes from the living planet we share.

Monday is Earth Day, and I am tempted to ask myself how humanity can save our wild planet and undo the devastation we have unleashed upon the natural world. Where I live, in the Cape of Good Hope, I am privileged to be surrounded by nature, but we are grappling with pollution and dwindling numbers of shellfish, fish, raptors and insect species. Worldwide, we are at a tipping point with an estimated 69 percent decline in wildlife populations.

When I consider the vast network of living creatures on earth, it’s clear that “saving the planet” is the wrong goal. Unless earth gets obliterated by an asteroid or experiences some similar catastrophic event, the planet could go on for several billion years. But without the biosphere that makes it possible for us to eat and breathe, humanity could not survive.

The question we should be asking is what caused the precipitous increase in species loss and what can we do to reverse it. To me, it all started when we disconnected from our wild origins. While agricultural and technological revolutions have enabled massive population growth and innovation , they have also instilled the belief that we can control nature, that our planet is an infinite resource to be mined for our advancement, comfort and entertainment.

Today 56 percent of the world population lives in urban areas, a percentage expected to grow to nearly 70 percent by 2050 . That means that more than half of us are cut off from reminders that we are still part of nature and utterly dependent on its health. It’s only when something truly devastating happens, like the recent flooding in Dubai, that we remember that even the greatest human advancements can be brought to a standstill by nature’s power.

I am not calling for us to leave all modern comforts behind, just pleading for us to get to know nature better, rather than try to “save” her.

In the past decade I have taken more than 4,000 dives in the Sea Forest. My encounters with mollusks, sharks and jellyfish there have convinced me that there is much we will lose if we do not value the tremendous abundance of life on earth.

We do this first by protecting biodiversity hot spots and by restoring degraded ecosystems; the enormous regenerative power I see every day in nature is what gives me hope for the future. It also means learning from and supporting Indigenous people who protect 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity and who have, over millenniums, developed many innovative ways to live with the land and sea. One promising example of partnership is a recent grant from the National Science Foundation to support collaboration between Indigenous ecological knowledge and Western science.

Activities that cause long-term destruction of the sea and earth, such as strip mining , deep sea mining and industrial trawling, need to be halted immediately. Farming methods have to change, with greater emphasis on soil recovery and regeneration . We must continue to find alternatives to fossil fuels and push for a worldwide reduction in the production and use of plastics.

But each of us has a role to play, too; it starts with challenging ourselves to reconnect with the wild. So much of our modern world seems designed to tame us: to dull our minds, to separate us from the natural world, to convince us that what will help us survive is more consumption.

Like my octopus friends, we fill our houses with shiny new things. But our piles of stuff are much bigger and the cost of acquisition much greater.

We can break free of this tame conditioning. When we dedicate even just a few minutes per day to observing wild creatures on their own terms, in their own homes, regardless of where we live, we connect with the concept of biodiversity not simply on an intellectual level but also on an emotional level. We see the world differently — and ourselves, too.

How strange it is that one silly primate can see itself as separate from all those it shares this world with. What might happen if we remembered we are a part of this wild world — and let that understanding and humility guide every choice we make?

Craig Foster is a co-founder of the Sea Change Project and the author of the forthcoming “Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World.” His film “My Octopus Teacher” won the Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2021.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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essay about earth planet

Scientific researchers on a bat-collecting expedition in Sierra Leone. Photo by Simon Townley/Panos

There’s no planet B

The scientific evidence is clear: the only celestial body that can support us is the one we evolved with. here’s why.

by Arwen E Nicholson & Raphaëlle D Haywood   + BIO

At the start of the 22nd century, humanity left Earth for the stars. The enormous ecological and climatic devastation that had characterised the last 100 years had led to a world barren and inhospitable; we had used up Earth entirely. Rapid melting of ice caused the seas to rise, swallowing cities whole. Deforestation ravaged forests around the globe, causing widespread destruction and loss of life. All the while, we continued to burn the fossil fuels we knew to be poisoning us, and thus created a world no longer fit for our survival. And so we set our sights beyond Earth’s horizons to a new world, a place to begin again on a planet as yet untouched. But where are we going? What are our chances of finding the elusive planet B, an Earth-like world ready and waiting to welcome and shelter humanity from the chaos we created on the planet that brought us into being? We built powerful astronomical telescopes to search the skies for planets resembling our own, and very quickly found hundreds of Earth twins orbiting distant stars. Our home was not so unique after all. The universe is full of Earths!

This futuristic dream-like scenario is being sold to us as a real scientific possibility, with billionaires planning to move humanity to Mars in the near future. For decades, children have grown up with the daring movie adventures of intergalactic explorers and the untold habitable worlds they find. Many of the highest-grossing films are set on fictional planets, with paid advisors keeping the science ‘realistic’. At the same time, narratives of humans trying to survive on a post-apocalyptic Earth have also become mainstream.

Given all our technological advances, it’s tempting to believe we are approaching an age of interplanetary colonisation. But can we really leave Earth and all our worries behind? No. All these stories are missing what makes a planet habitable to us . What Earth-like means in astronomy textbooks and what it means to someone considering their survival prospects on a distant world are two vastly different things. We don’t just need a planet roughly the same size and temperature as Earth; we need a planet that spent billions of years evolving with us. We depend completely on the billions of other living organisms that make up Earth’s biosphere. Without them, we cannot survive. Astronomical observations and Earth’s geological record are clear: the only planet that can support us is the one we evolved with. There is no plan B. There is no planet B. Our future is here, and it doesn’t have to mean we’re doomed.

D eep down, we know this from instinct: we are happiest when immersed in our natural environment. There are countless examples of the healing power of spending time in nature . Numerous articles speak of the benefits of ‘forest bathing’; spending time in the woods has been scientifically shown to reduce stress, anxiety and depression, and to improve sleep quality, thus nurturing both our physical and mental health. Our bodies instinctively know what we need: the thriving and unique biosphere that we have co-evolved with, that exists only here, on our home planet.

There is no planet B. These days, everyone is throwing around this catchy slogan. Most of us have seen it inscribed on an activist’s homemade placard, or heard it from a world leader. In 2014, the United Nations’ then secretary general Ban Ki-moon said: ‘There is no plan B because we do not have [a] planet B.’ The French president Emmanuel Macron echoed him in 2018 in his historical address to US Congress. There’s even a book named after it. The slogan gives strong impetus to address our planetary crisis. However, no one actually explains why there isn’t another planet we could live on, even though the evidence from Earth sciences and astronomy is clear. Gathering this observation-based information is essential to counter an increasingly popular but flawed narrative that the only way to ensure our survival is to colonise other planets.

The best-case scenario for terraforming Mars leaves us with an atmosphere we are incapable of breathing

The most common target of such speculative dreaming is our neighbour Mars. It is about half the size of Earth and receives about 40 per cent of the heat that we get from the Sun. From an astronomer’s perspective, Mars is Earth’s identical twin. And Mars has been in the news a lot lately, promoted as a possible outpost for humanity in the near future . While human-led missions to Mars seem likely in the coming decades, what are our prospects of long-term habitation on Mars? Present-day Mars is a cold, dry world with a very thin atmosphere and global dust storms that can last for weeks on end. Its average surface pressure is less than 1 per cent of Earth’s. Surviving without a pressure suit in such an environment is impossible. The dusty air mostly consists of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and the surface temperature ranges from a balmy 30ºC (86ºF) in the summer, down to -140ºC (-220ºF) in the winter; these extreme temperature changes are due to the thin atmosphere on Mars.

Despite these clear challenges, proposals for terraforming Mars into a world suitable for long-term human habitation abound. Mars is further from the Sun than Earth, so it would require significantly more greenhouse gases to achieve a temperature similar to Earth’s. Thickening the atmosphere by releasing CO 2 in the Martian surface is the most popular ‘solution’ to the thin atmosphere on Mars. However, every suggested method of releasing the carbon stored in Mars requires technology and resources far beyond what we are currently capable of. What’s more, a recent NASA study determined that there isn’t even enough CO 2 on Mars to warm it sufficiently.

Even if we could find enough CO 2 , we would still be left with an atmosphere we couldn’t breathe. Earth’s atmosphere contains only 0.04 per cent CO 2 , and we cannot tolerate an atmosphere high in CO 2 . For an atmosphere with Earth’s atmospheric pressure, CO 2 levels as high as 1 per cent can cause drowsiness in humans, and once we reach levels of 10 per cent CO 2 , we will suffocate even if there is abundant oxygen. The proposed absolute best-case scenario for terraforming Mars leaves us with an atmosphere we are incapable of breathing; and achieving it is well beyond our current technological and economic capabilities.

Instead of changing the atmosphere of Mars, a more realistic scenario might be to build habitat domes on its surface with internal conditions suitable for our survival. However, there would be a large pressure difference between the inside of the habitat and the outside atmosphere. Any breach in the habitat would rapidly lead to depressurisation as the breathable air escapes into the thin Martian atmosphere. Any humans living on Mars would have to be on constant high alert for any damage to their building structures, and suffocation would be a daily threat.

F rom an astronomical perspective, Mars is Earth’s twin; and yet, it would take vast resources, time and effort to transform it into a world that wouldn’t be capable of providing even the bare minimum of what we have on Earth. Suggesting that another planet could become an escape from our problems on Earth suddenly seems absurd. But are we being pessimistic? Do we just need to look further afield?

Next time you are out on a clear night, look up at the stars and choose one – you are more likely than not to pick one that hosts planets. Astronomical observations today confirm our age-old suspicion that all stars have their own planetary systems. As astronomers, we call these exoplanets. What are exoplanets like? Could we make any of them our home?

The majority of exoplanets discovered to date were found by NASA’s Kepler mission, which monitored the brightness of 100,000 stars over four years, looking for dips in a star’s light as a planet obscures it each time it completes an orbit around it.

essay about earth planet

Kepler observed more than 900 Earth-sized planets with a radius up to 1.25 times that of our world. These planets could be rocky (for the majority of them, we haven’t yet determined their mass, so we can only make this inference based on empirical relations between planetary mass and radius). Of these 900 or so Earth-sized planets, 23 are in the habitable zone. The habitable zone is the range of orbits around a star where a planet can be considered temperate : the planet’s surface can support liquid water (provided there is sufficient atmospheric pressure), a key ingredient of life as we know it. The concept of the habitable zone is very useful because it depends on just two astrophysical parameters that are relatively easy to measure: the distance of the planet to its parent star, and the star’s temperature. It’s worth keeping in mind that the astronomical habitable zone is a very simple concept and, in reality, there are many more factors at play in the emergence of life; for example, this concept does not consider plate tectonics , which are thought to be crucial to sustain life on Earth.

Planets with similar observable properties to Earth are very common: at least one in 10 stars hosts them

How many Earth-sized, temperate planets are there in our galaxy? Since we have discovered only a handful of these planets so far, it is still quite difficult to estimate their number. Current estimates of the frequency of Earth-sized planets rely on extrapolating measured occurrence rates of planets that are slightly bigger and closer to their parent star, as those are easier to detect. The studies are primarily based on observations from the Kepler mission, which surveyed more than 100,000 stars in a systematic fashion. These stars are all located in a tiny portion of the entire sky; so, occurrence rate studies assume that this part of the sky is representative of the full galaxy. These are all reasonable assumptions for the back-of-the-envelope estimate that we are about to make.

Several different teams carried out their own analyses and, on average, they found that roughly one in three stars (30 per cent) hosts an Earth-sized, temperate planet. The most pessimistic studies found a rate of 9 per cent, which is about one in 10 stars, and the studies with the most optimistic results found that virtually all stars host at least one Earth-sized, temperate planet, and potentially even several of them.

At first sight, this looks like a huge range in values; but it’s worth taking a step back and realising that we had absolutely no constraints whatsoever on this number just 20 years ago. Whether there are other planets similar to Earth is a question that we’ve been asking for millennia, and this is the very first time that we are able to answer it based on actual observations. Before the Kepler mission, we had no idea whether we would find Earth-sized, temperate planets around one in 10, or one in a million stars. Now we know that planets with similar observable properties to Earth are very common: at least one in 10 stars hosts these kinds of planets.

essay about earth planet

Let’s now use these numbers to predict the number of Earth-sized, temperate planets in our entire galaxy. For this, let’s take the average estimate of 30 per cent, or roughly one in three stars. Our galaxy hosts approximately 300 billion stars, which adds up to 90 billion roughly Earth-sized, roughly temperate planets. This is a huge number, and it can be very tempting to think that at least one of these is bound to look exactly like Earth.

One issue to consider is that other worlds are at unimaginable distances from us. Our neighbour Mars is on average 225 million kilometres (about 140 million miles) away. Imagine a team of astronauts travelling in a vehicle similar to NASA’s robotic New Horizons probe, one of humankind’s fastest spacecrafts – which flew by Pluto in 2015. With New Horizons’ top speed of around 58,000 kph, it would take at least 162 days to reach Mars. Beyond our solar system, the closest star to us is Proxima Centauri, at a distance of 40 trillion kilometres. Going in the same space vehicle, it would take our astronaut crew 79,000 years to reach planets that might exist around our nearest stellar neighbour.

S till, let’s for a moment optimistically imagine that we find a perfect Earth twin: a planet that really is exactly like Earth. Let’s imagine that some futuristic form of technology exists, ready to whisk us away to this new paradise. Keen to explore our new home, we eagerly board our rocket, but on landing we soon feel uneasy. Where is the land? Why is the ocean green and not blue? Why is the sky orange and thick with haze? Why are our instruments detecting no oxygen in the atmosphere? Was this not supposed to be a perfect twin of Earth?

As it turns out, we have landed on a perfect twin of the Archean Earth, the aeon during which life first emerged on our home world. This new planet is certainly habitable: lifeforms are floating around the green, iron-rich oceans, breathing out methane that is giving the sky that unsettling hazy, orange colour. This planet sure is habitable – just not to us . It has a thriving biosphere with plenty of life, but not life like ours. In fact, we would have been unable to survive on Earth for around 90 per cent of its history; the oxygen-rich atmosphere that we depend on is a recent feature of our planet.

The earliest part of our planet’s history, known as the Hadean aeon, begins with the formation of the Earth. Named after the Greek underworld due to our planet’s fiery beginnings, the early Hadean would have been a terrible place with molten lava oceans and an atmosphere of vaporised rock. Next came the Archean aeon, beginning 4 billion years ago, when the first life on Earth flourished. But, as we just saw, the Archean would be no home for a human. The world where our earliest ancestors thrived would kill us in an instant. After the Archean came the Proterozoic, 2.5 billion years ago. In this aeon, there was land, and a more familiar blue ocean and sky. What’s more, oxygen finally began to accumulate in the atmosphere. But let’s not get too excited: the level of oxygen was less than 10 per cent of what we have today. The air would still have been impossible for us to breathe. This time also experienced global glaciation events known as snowball Earths, where ice covered the globe from poles to equator for millions of years at a time. Earth has spent more of its time fully frozen than the length of time that we humans have existed.

We would have been incapable of living on our planet for most of its existence

Earth’s current aeon, the Phanerozoic, began only around 541 million years ago with the Cambrian explosion – a period of time when life rapidly diversified. A plethora of life including the first land plants, dinosaurs and the first flowering plants all appeared during this aeon. It is only within this aeon that our atmosphere became one that we can actually breathe. This aeon has also been characterised by multiple mass extinction events that wiped out as much as 90 per cent of all species over short periods of time. The factors that brought on such devastation are thought to be a combination of large asteroid impacts, and volcanic, chemical and climate changes occurring on Earth at the time. From the point of view of our planet, the changes leading to these mass extinctions are relatively minor. However, for lifeforms at the time, such changes shattered their world and very often led to their complete extinction.

Looking at Earth’s long history, we find that we would have been incapable of living on our planet for most of its existence. Anatomically modern humans emerged less than 400,000 years ago; we have been around for less than 0.01 per cent of the Earth’s story. The only reason we find Earth habitable now is because of the vast and diverse biosphere that has for hundreds of millions of years evolved with and shaped our planet into the home we know today. Our continued survival depends on the continuation of Earth’s present state without any nasty bumps along the way. We are complex lifeforms with complex needs. We are entirely dependent on other organisms for all our food and the very air we breathe. The collapse of Earth’s ecosystems is the collapse of our life-support systems. Replicating everything Earth offers us on another planet, on timescales of a few human lifespans, is simply impossible.

Some argue that we need to colonise other planets to ensure the future of the human race. In 5 billion years, our Sun, a middle-aged star, will become a red giant, expanding in size and possibly engulfing Earth. In 1 billion years, the gradual warming of our Sun is predicted to cause Earth’s oceans to boil away. While this certainly sounds worrying, 1 billion years is a long, long time. A billion years ago, Earth’s landmasses formed the supercontinent Rodinia, and life on Earth consisted in single-celled and small multicellular organisms. No plants or animals yet existed. The oldest Homo sapiens remains date from 315,000 years ago, and until 12,000 years ago all humans lived as hunter-gatherers.

The industrial revolution happened less than 500 years ago. Since then, human activity in burning fossil fuels has been rapidly changing the climate, threatening human lives and damaging ecosystems across the globe. Without rapid action, human-caused climate change is predicted to have devastating global consequences within the next 50 years. This is the looming crisis that humanity must focus on. If we can’t learn to work within the planetary system that we evolved with, how do we ever hope to replicate these deep processes on another planet? Considering how different human civilisations are today from even 5,000 years ago, worrying about a problem that humans may have to tackle in a billion years is simply absurd. It would be far simpler to go back in time and ask the ancient Egyptians to invent the internet there and then. It’s also worth considering that many of the attitudes towards space colonisation are worryingly close to the same exploitative attitudes that have led us to the climate crisis we now face.

Earth is the home we know and love not because it is Earth-sized and temperate. No, we call this planet our home thanks to its billion-year-old relationship with life. Just as people are shaped not only by their genetics, but by their culture and relationships with others, planets are shaped by the living organisms that emerge and thrive on them. Over time, Earth has been dramatically transformed by life into a world where we, humans, can prosper. The relationship works both ways: while life shapes its planet, the planet shapes its life. Present-day Earth is our life-support system, and we cannot live without it.

While Earth is currently our only example of a living planet, it is now within our technological reach to potentially find signs of life on other worlds. In the coming decades, we will likely answer the age-old question: are we alone in the Universe? Finding evidence for alien life promises to shake the foundations of our understanding of our own place in the cosmos. But finding alien life does not mean finding another planet that we can move to. Just as life on Earth has evolved with our planet over billions of years, forming a deep, unique relationship that makes the world we see today, any alien life on a distant planet will have a similarly deep and unique bond with its own planet. We can’t expect to be able to crash the party and find a warm welcome.

Living on a warming Earth presents many challenges. But these pale in comparison with the challenges of converting Mars, or any other planet, into a viable alternative. Scientists study Mars and other planets to better understand how Earth and life formed and evolved, and how they shape each other. We look to worlds beyond our horizons to better understand ourselves. In searching the Universe, we are not looking for an escape to our problems: Earth is our unique and only home in the cosmos. There is no planet B.

An early morning view across an old bridge towards the spires of a historic medieval city partially obscured by fog

Return of the descendants

I migrated to my ancestral homeland in a search for identity. It proved to be a humbling experience in (un)belonging

Jessica Buchleitner

essay about earth planet

Neuroscience

How to make a map of smell

We can split light by a prism, sounds by tones, but surely the world of odour is too complex and personal? Strangely, no

Jason Castro

essay about earth planet

The cell is not a factory

Scientific narratives project social hierarchies onto nature. That’s why we need better metaphors to describe cellular life

Charudatta Navare

essay about earth planet

Anthropology

Societies of perpetual movement

Why do hunter-gatherers refuse to be sedentary? New answers are emerging from the depths of the Congolese rainforest

Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias

essay about earth planet

Rethinking the homunculus

When we discovered that the brain contained a map of the body it revolutionised neuroscience. But it’s time for an update

Moheb Costandi

essay about earth planet

Science must become attuned to the subtle conversations that pervade all life, from the primordial to the present

David Waltner-Toews

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  • What is Public Health?

To Protect Human Health, We Must Protect the Earth’s Health

“The Earth crisis now represents a humanitarian crisis,” says Sam Myers. But there are solutions that serve both people and the planet.

Public Health On Call

Human activities have transformed and degraded Earth’s natural systems. But it’s not just the planet that endures the harms of things like pollution and climate change. Changes like rising ocean temperatures and CO2 levels have cascading effects that threaten the future of humans.

In this Q&A, adapted from the  April 22 episode of Public Health On Call ,  Joshua Sharfstein , MD, talks with  Sam Myers , MD, faculty director of the new  Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health and founding director of the  Planetary Health Alliance , about this interdisciplinary approach to understanding how the state of the planet impacts human health and well-being.

What is planetary health?

Planetary health is a cross-disciplinary field that has emerged in the last eight or nine years. It focuses on how our transformation of nature—our degradation and alteration of all of our planet's natural systems—is coming back to affect our health.

Climate change, biodiversity loss, global-scale pollution of air, water, and soil, changes in land use and land cover—all driven by human activity—are resulting in increased burdens of disease and impacting all dimensions of human health. We want to understand what those dynamics are and how we can address them.

What are some examples of changes impacting human health?

We know that ocean warming is changing the size of both fish and fisheries. It’s also changing where the fisheries are located, moving them away from the tropics and toward the poles. We did a study to determine how many people depend on wild-harvested fish for critical nutrients and live close to a threshold of insufficient intake of those nutrients—what we define as the vulnerable population to these changes. We found that over a billion people fall into this category.

We’ve also found that crops like rice, wheat, and maize—foods that provide most of the calories in the global diet—tend to lose essential nutrients when grown at elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide like the ones we expect to see by about the middle of this century.

In our  free air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) experiments , we grew 41 cultivars of those kinds of crops in seven locations across three continents over 10 years. We found that growing these staple food crops at high CO2 levels significantly reduces the amount of iron, zinc, and protein they contain. We then modeled what these findings would mean for populations in 150 countries and found that the CO2 effect alone would cause around 150-200 million people to be pushed into nutritional insufficiency of these nutrients.

Other research has shown that growing different cultivars of rice at elevated CO2 resulted in B vitamins being reduced by almost 30%. We used that data to model what that might mean for the risk of things like neural tube defects, and we found really large impacts.

What other environmental factors does planetary health consider?

Changing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere is just one very specific biophysical change, but we're changing all the biophysical conditions that our entire food production system has been developed to be optimized for: temperature, precipitation, amount of arable land, pollinators, and pest and pathogen relationships. All of those things are now changing in response to human activity in ways that usually represent headwinds for global food production, in terms of both quality and quantity.

How does planetary health address the extreme scale of the changes humans are causing the environment and the consequences of those?

The field of planetary health has emerged out of a recognition that the pace and scale at which we're transforming all our natural systems has become a global health crisis.

The global health impacts of the Earth crisis are kind of a silent pandemic, and there are parallels to the COVID pandemic we've just come out of. The COVID pandemic required massive mobilization of new technologies, investments in economic stimulus and foreign assistance, respect for science, and urgent global behavior change. This silent pandemic is probably much more impactful to human health. It could be addressed in a very similar way, but we’re doing very little.

You can't respond to a crisis until you recognize that there is a crisis. As you are trying to raise concern over planetary health, how is that warning signal being received?

The field is growing very quickly. We started the  Planetary Health Alliance about eight years ago, and we now have more than 400 organizations involved in more than 70 countries. There's been a very rapid proliferation of new courses, degree programs, and journals in planetary health. We’re also seeing government agencies adopting planetary health as a frame, including the European Union, certain national governments, and the UN system.

There has been a rapid understanding and recognition of the global health urgency related to the Earth crisis, but it's a drop in the bucket of what is really needed to fully mobilize and address the crisis.

Are there solutions that can address multiple problems at once?

Yes. From a policy standpoint, the goal is to find opportunities to both optimize human health and well-being and reduce our ecological footprint. In order to protect and regenerate the Earth’s natural life support systems, we have to change the way we’re living. The good news is there are a lot of ways we can do this, and many of these changes also have major co-benefits.

For example, switching to clean, renewable energy is important to addressing climate change. Doing so also reduces the amount of air pollution, which drives something like 9 million deaths every year. Greening our cities and designing them to be walkable and bikeable not only reduces greenhouse gasses and increases biodiversity; these changes also provide major mental and physical health benefits.

What is the Planetary Health Alliance and what does it do?

Contrary to what it sounds like, the Planetary Health Alliance doesn’t fight for the planet’s health—they’re fighting for human health and the health of other species.

It’s a recognition that the well-being of all life on earth depends on stable natural life support systems. Things like degradation of biodiversity, pollution, and land use change all interact with each other in very complex ways that affect these foundational conditions for all life on Earth:

  • The quality of air that we breathe.
  • The quality of water that we consume.
  • The quality and quantity of food we can produce.
  • Exposure to infectious disease and extreme weather events.

And these impacts are driving an urgent set of health problems.

The Alliance functions as sort of the backbone organization for this growing global field. That includes curating new knowledge, writing the  first textbook for the field , developing core competencies for education, creating a  platform to support educators and planetary health around the world, organizing an  annual meeting , and putting out  a newsletter .

One half of the Alliance’s focus is to create and support a global community of practice. The other half is what we call “mainstreaming planetary health,” which means taking that community of practice, the new knowledge, and conceptual frameworks out of the field and connecting them to action.

We’re working to ensure that policymakers, the private sector, and the general public are aware that the Earth crisis now represents a humanitarian crisis and that there are a variety of solutions that benefit both people and the planet.

Tell us about the Planetary Health Institute you've started at Johns Hopkins.

The Institute is the first example of a major university using planetary health as a lens to bring faculty and students together across all of its schools and centers. The Institute is bringing together people in the arts and humanities, engineers, natural scientists, and people in government, law, and policy around this central project of planetary health. We’ll focus on research, education, policy, practice, and clinical  programs . And already, there are all kinds of interesting interdisciplinary initiatives at Hopkins that are focused on planetary health: One on planetary health cities, one on Indigenous health, and another one on food systems, just to name a few.  

This interview was edited for length and clarity by Aliza Rosen.

  • Healthy Planet, Healthy People
  • New Johns Hopkins Institute Aims to Safeguard Human Health on a Rapidly Changing Planet (JHU Hub)
  • Planetary Health: Thinking About the Earth Crisis as a Humanitarian Crisis (podcast)

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Earth Day: How a senator’s idea more than 50 years ago got people fighting for their planet

FILE - Climate activists hold a rally to protest the use of fossil fuels on Earth Day at Freedom Plaza, April 22, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE - Climate activists hold a rally to protest the use of fossil fuels on Earth Day at Freedom Plaza, April 22, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE - Activists display prints replicating solar panels during a rally to mark Earth Day at Lafayette Square, Washington, April 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)

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Millions of people around the world will pause on Monday, at least for a moment, to mark Earth Day. It’s an annual event founded by people who hoped to stir activism to clean up and preserve a planet that is now home to some 8 billion humans and assorted trillions of other organisms.

Here are answers to some common questions about Earth Day and how it came to be:

WHY DO WE CELEBRATE EARTH DAY?

Earth Day has its roots in growing concern over pollution in the 1960s, when author Rachel Carson’s 1962 book “Silent Spring,” about the pesticide DDT and its damaging effects on the food chain, hit bestseller lists and raised awareness about nature’s delicate balance.

But it was a senator from Wisconsin, Democrat Gaylord Nelson, who had the idea that would become Earth Day. Nelson had long been concerned about the environment when a massive offshore oil spill sent millions of gallons onto the southern California coast in 1969. Nelson, after touring the spill site, had the idea of doing a national “teach-in” on the environment, similar to teach-ins being held on some college campuses at the time to oppose the war in Vietnam.

Nelson and others, including activist Denis Hayes, worked to expand the idea beyond college campuses, with events all around the country, and came up with the Earth Day name.

FILE - Wind turbines operate at an energy plant near Stetten, north of Kaiserslautern, Germany, as the sun rises on, March 19, 2024. According to a new report published Tuesday, April 16, 2024, last year, marked the best year for new wind projects. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)

WHY WAS APRIL 22 CHOSEN FOR EARTH DAY?

A history of the movement by EarthDay.org, where Hayes remains board chair emeritus, says the date of the first Earth Day — April 22, 1970 — was chosen because it fell on a weekday between spring break and final exams and the aim was to attract as many students as possible.

IS EARTH DAY A REAL HOLIDAY?

It’s not a federal holiday. But many groups use the day to put together volunteer events with the environment in mind, such as cleanups of natural areas. You can see a list of events worldwide , or register your own event, at EarthDay.org.

FILE - Activists display prints replicating solar panels during a rally to mark Earth Day at Lafayette Square, Washington, April 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)

HAS IT HAD AN IMPACT?

It has. The overwhelming public response to the first Earth Day is credited with adding pressure for the U.S. Congress to do more to address pollution, and it did, passing landmark legislation including the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. More broadly, it’s seen as the birth of the modern environmental movement. In later years, Earth Day expanded to become a truly global event. It now claims to have motivated action in more than 192 countries.

In 2000, Earth Day began taking aim at climate change, a problem that has grown rapidly more urgent in recent years.

WHAT’S THE THEME THIS YEAR?

This year’s Earth Day is focusing on the threat that plastics pose to our environment, with a call to end all single-use plastic and find replacements for their use so they can quickly be phased down.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .

essay about earth planet

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Life on Other Planets: What is Life and What Does It Need?

Against a background of deep space, we see in this illustration a green and brown, rocky planet In the lower right foreground, its star – a red dwarf – in the distance to the planet’s upper left. That side of the planet is brightly illuminated while the rest is slightly shadowed. Other planets in this system can be seen at various points to the planet’s far left, lower near left, and upper near-right.

One day, perhaps in the not-too-distant future, a faraway planet could yield hints that it might host some form of life – but surrender its secrets reluctantly.

Our space telescopes might detect a mixture of gases in its atmosphere that resembles our own. Computer models would offer predictions about the planet’s life-bearing potential. Experts would debate whether the evidence made a strong case for the presence of life, or try to find still more evidence to support such a groundbreaking interpretation.

“We are in the beginning of a golden era right now,” said Ravi Kopparapu, a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who studies habitable planets. “For the first time in the history of civilization we might be able to answer the question: Is there life beyond Earth?”

For exoplanets – planets around other stars – that era opens with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Instruments aboard the spacecraft are detecting the composition of atmospheres on exoplanets. As the power of telescopes increases in the years ahead, future advanced instruments could capture possible signs of life – “biosignatures” – from a planet light-years away.

Within our solar system, the Perseverance rover on Mars is gathering rock samples for eventual return to Earth, so scientists can probe them for signs of life. And the coming Europa Clipper mission will visit an icy moon of Jupiter. Its goal: to determine whether conditions on that moon would allow life to thrive in its global ocean, buried beneath a global ice shell.

But any hints of life beyond Earth would come with another big question: How certain could any scientific conclusions really be?

“The challenge is deciding what is life – when to say, ‘I found it,’” said Laurie Barge of the Origins and Habitability Lab at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

With so much unknown about what even constitutes a “sign of life,” astrobiologists are working on a new framework to understand the strength of the evidence. A sample framework, proposed in 2021, includes a scale ranging from 1 to 7, with hints of other life at level 1, to increasingly substantial evidence, all the way to certainty of life elsewhere at level 7. This framework, which is being discussed and revised, acknowledges that scientific exploration in the search for life is a twisted, winding road, rather than a straightforward path.

And identifying definitive signs remains difficult enough for “life as we know it.” Even more uncertain would be finding evidence of life as we don’t know it, made of unfamiliar molecular combinations or based on a solvent other than water.

Still, as the search for life begins in earnest, among the planets in our own solar system as well as far distant systems known only by their light, NASA scientists and their partners around the world have some ideas that serve as starting points.

Life That Evolves

First, there’s NASA’s less-than-formal, non-binding but still helpful working definition of life: “A self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution.” Charles Darwin famously described evolution by natural selection, with characteristics preserved across generations leading to changes in organisms over time.

Derived in the 1990s by a NASA exobiology working group, the definition is not used to design missions or research projects. It does help to set expectations, and to focus debate on the critical issues around another thorny question: When does non-life become life?

“Biology is chemistry with history,” says Gerald Joyce, one of the members of the working group that helped create the NASA definition and now a research professor at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.

That means history recorded by the chemistry itself – in our case, inscribed in our DNA, which encodes genetic data that can be translated into the structures and physical processes that make up our bodies.

The DNA record must be robust, complex, self-replicating and open-ended, Joyce suggests, to endure and adapt over billions of years.

“That would be a smoking gun: evidence for information having been recorded in molecules,” Joyce said.

Such a molecule from another world in our solar system, whether DNA, RNA or something else, might turn up in a sample from Mars, say from the Mars sample-return mission now being planned by NASA.

Or it might be found among the “ocean worlds” in the outer solar system – Jupiter’s moon, Europa, Saturn’s Enceladus or one of the other moons of gas giants that hide vast oceans beneath shells of ice.

We can’t obtain samples of such information-bearing molecules from planets beyond our solar system, since they are so far away that it would take tens of thousands of years to travel there even in the fastest spaceships ever built. Instead, we’ll have to rely on remote detection of potential biosignatures, measuring the types and quantities of gases in exoplanet atmospheres to try to determine whether they were generated by life-forms. That likely will require deeper knowledge of what life needs to get its start – and to persist long enough to be detected.

A Place Where Life Emerges

There is no true consensus on a list of requirements for life, whether in our solar system or the stars beyond. But Joyce, who researches life’s origin and development, suggests a few likely “must-haves.”

Topping the list is liquid water. Despite a broad spectrum of environmental conditions inhabited by living things on Earth, all life on the planet seems to require it. Liquid water provides a medium for the chemical components of life to persist over time and come together for reactions, in a way that air or the surface of a rock don’t do as well.

Spectroscopy_of_exoplanet

Also essential: an energy source, both for chemical reactions that produce structures and to create “order” against the universal tendency toward “disorder” – also known as entropy.

An imbalance in atmospheric gases also might offer a tell-tale sign of the presence of life.

“In Earth’s atmosphere, oxygen and methane are highly reactive with each other,” Kopparapu said. Left to themselves, they would quickly cancel each other out.

“They should not be seen together,” he said. “So why are we seeing methane, why are we seeing oxygen? Something must be constantly replenishing these compounds.”

On Earth, that “something” is life, pumping more of each into the atmosphere and keeping it out of balance. Such an imbalance, in these compounds or others, could be detected on a distant exoplanet, suggesting the presence of a living biosphere. But scientists also will have to rule out geological processes like volcanic or hydrothermal activity that could generate molecules that we might otherwise associate with life.

Careful laboratory work and precision modeling of possible exoplanet atmospheres will be needed to tell the difference.

Going Through Changes

Barge also places high on the list the idea of “gradients,” or changes that occur over time and distance, like wet to dry, hot to cold, and many other possible environments. Gradients create places for energy to go, changing along the way and generating molecules or chemical systems that later might be incorporated into life-forms.

Plate tectonics on Earth, and the cycling of gases like carbon dioxide – buried beneath Earth’s crust by subduction, perhaps, or released back into the atmosphere by volcanoes – represent one kind of gradient.

Barge’s specialty, the chemistry of hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor billions of years ago, is another. It’s one possible pathway to have created a kind of primitive metabolism – the translation of organic compounds into energy – as a potential precursor to true life-forms.

“What gradients existed before life?” she asks. “If life depends so much on gradients, could the origin of life also have benefited from these gradients?”

Clearer mapping of possible pathways to life ultimately could inform the design of future space telescopes, tasked with parsing the gases in the atmospheres of potentially habitable exoplanets.

“If we want to be sure it’s coming from biology, we have to not only look for gases; we have to look at how it’s being emitted from the planet, if it’s emitted in the right quantities, in the right way,” Kopparapu said. “With future telescopes, we’ll be more confident because they’ll be designed to look for life on other planets.”

Search for Life

This article is one in a series about how NASA is searching for life in the cosmos.

Beginnings: Life on Our World and Others

The Hunt for Life on Mars – and Elsewhere in the Solar System

'Life' in the Lab

Searching for Signs of Intelligent Life: Technosignatures

Finding Life Beyond Earth: What Comes Next?

An illustration in a style similar to a National Parks poster shows a rocky shoreline in the foreground, an expanse of water lapping against it and, on the horizon, the cone of a volcano releasing a white cloud of gas against a sky with dusky light.

Related Terms

  • Terrestrial Exoplanets
  • The Search for Life

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essay about earth planet

10 Surprising Facts About Earth Day

essay about earth planet

M ore than 8 billion people inhabit Earth, and soon a springtime holiday will remind them of the need to take care of their home.

Earth Day, which takes place on April 22, dates back to 1970, when U.S.-based organizers were hoping to bring awareness to the environmental degradation they were witnessing across the country. Since then, recognition of the holiday has expanded to more than 190 countries who have added Earth Day to their calendar. 

The holiday is both a grim reminder of the work that must be done and a celebration of the progress that has been made when it comes to climate change efforts. It's also been the catalyst for actions including the creation of international climate agreements and environmental agencies.

This year’s theme is Planet vs. Plastics, which calls on government leaders, businesses, and everyday people to reduce plastic production by 60% by 2040. It is also calling for the full elimination of single use plastics by the end of this decade. 

“The word environment means what surrounds you. In the case of plastics we have become the product itself—it flows through our blood stream, adheres to our internal organs, and carries with it heavy metals known to cause cancer and disease,” said Kathleen Rogers, President of earthday.org. “The Planet vs. Plastics campaign is a call to arms, a demand that we act now to end the scourge of plastics and safeguard the health of every living being upon our planet.”  

Here are 10 interesting facts about Earth Day. 

Earth Day was created by a senator

Gaylord Nelson, a Democratic senator from Wisconsin, was growing increasingly concerned over the state of the U.S. environment in the 1960s. After a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, Calif. in January 1969, he had the idea to launch a nationwide, environmentally-focused teach-in on college campuses, drawing inspiration from the anti-war movements against the Vietnam War occurring on campuses around the country. Nelson recruited Denis Hayes, a young activist, to help bring the idea to the public.

The idea for Earth Day came after a series of environmental catastrophes 

Hayes, one of the organizers behind the first Earth Day, previously told TIME that the idea behind the holiday came following a number of events that drew attention to the environment, including the release of Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring in 1962 and the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire . Hayes said that while there were a number of groups in the U.S. working on different environmental issues—to reduce air pollution, bring attention to the impact of pesticides on farm workers, and more—they had never worked in conjunction. 

“What we did was take all of those myriad strands, including wildlife protection issues, and wove them all together. It sounds strange today, but back then, the folks involved with those various causes didn’t think of themselves as having anything in common with one another,” he told TIME in 2019. “No one was asking that question at the end of the 1970s.”

More than 20 million people participated in the first Earth Day

Millions of people participated in the first Earth Day celebration on April 22, 1970. The event shut down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, as people demonstrated and participated in street clean-ups. 

“The holiday mood on Fifth Avenue was exemplified by members of the architectural firm of Warner, Burns, Toan & Lunde, who spread a yellow and‐white quilt on the asphalt near 57th Street, put a tulip in a wine bottle for a centerpiece and enjoyed a picnic in the sun. A laughing crowd gathered around them and sang, ‘Happy Earth Day to You,’” the New York Times reported that day.

Earth Day is on April 22 because of college schedules

The date for Earth Day was largely dictated by the schedules of the college students Hayes and Nelson were hoping to attract. April 22 fell on a weekday during the school year—nestled between spring break and final exams, when the weather was mild enough to allow people to be outside. 

The Environmental Protection Agency was created after the first Earth Day

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which regulates mechanisms to protect the environment, was created on Dec. 2, 1970 as a direct response to the first Earth Day. Congress formed the agency after witnessing the huge participation in Earth Day demonstrations across the country, the EPA says . 

“Last year some said there would never be another Earth Day. They saw concern for our environment as a fad, and claimed that the instant enthusiasm of an activist generation would soon flow elsewhere,” said William D. Ruckelshaus, the EPA’s first administrator during the second Earth Day in 1971. “I believe they were wrong.”

Earth Day went global in 1990

Millions of people participated in the first Earth Day movement, which led to the passage of key environmental laws, including the National Environmental Education Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Clean Air Act in the U.S. later that year.

“Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, urban dwellers and farmers, business and labor leaders,” says the earthday.org history page . 

But its impact spans larger than just one country. The movement went global in 1990, after a group of environmental leaders approached Hayes to organize another major campaign for the planet, which mobilized 200 million people in 141 countries.

In the new millennium, the movement switched its focus to campaign against global warming, and as recently as 2020, over 1 billion people worldwide participated in Earth Day actions.

The Paris Agreement opened for signature on Earth Day

The Paris Agreement , the most significant international climate accord in history, was opened for signature on Earth Day in 2016. The treaty has more than 190 signatories, all of whom agreed to reduce carbon emissions and carry out other actions to reduce climate change.

United Automobile Workers union played a role in making Earth Day possible

The former head of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union was one of the biggest contributors to the original Earth Day, donating $2,000 in 1970 (the equivalent of more than $15,500 today). 

“The UAW was by far the largest contributor to the first Earth Day, and its support went beyond the merely financial. It printed and mailed all our materials at its expense — even those critical of pollution-belching cars,” Hayes told Grist in 2010. “Its organizers turned out workers in every city where it has a presence. And, of course, Walter then endorsed the Clear Air Act that the Big Four were doing their damnedest to kill or gut.”

Organizers are trying to have the biggest Earth Day cleanup event in history in 2024 

For this year’s Earth Day celebration, earthday.org is working with Malaysian organizations to host the largest cleanup in Earth Day history. Penang Island, the country’s main island, has been impacted by plastic pollution due to tourism. At least 100,000 volunteers will be cleaning up the beaches and forests in the country, according to organizers. They will also plant more than 1 million trees. 

Tens of millions of trees have been planted on Earth Day

Some 18 million acres of forest are lost every year due to deforestation, per the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. To combat this, earthday.org founded the Canopy Project in 2010 and says it has since planted tens of millions of trees around the world.

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Write to Simmone Shah at [email protected]

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