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The length of time it takes for Earth to orbit the Sun is 365 and a quarter days. To make up this extra quarter which isn't counted at the end of a year, we have an extra day every four years on 29th February. This year, 2008, is a Leap Year. The next Leap Year will be in 2012.
Facts in category: Statistics
| In the US, a barrel contains 31 gallons of beer compared to 36 in the UK. |
| 2 out of 3 foreign visitors prefer British pubs to their own local bars. |
| Earth is the only planet in the Solar System to have water in its three states of matter: as a solid (ice), a liquid (sea, rain, etc.) and as a gas (clouds). |
| Earth is composed of three layers: a core, a mantle, and an outer crust. The core is composed of two parts: an inner core of solid iron and nickle (2,600 km in diamter), and an outer core made of molten iron and nickle (2,250 km thick). The mantle is partially molten liquid (2,900 km thick). The crust (8 to 40 km thick) is composed of over twenty plates that float on top of the hot mantle. The motion of these plates is called tectonic drift. Tectonic drift is responsible for seafloor spreading and continental drift. |
| Earth has an average surface temperature of 13 degrees C (55.4 degrees F). The planet would be much colder without greenhouse gasses, such as carbon dioxide and water vapor, to trap outgoing thermal radiation. The greenhouse effect raises the planet's temperature 35 degrees C (95 degrees F). |
| The surface features on Earth are extremely varied with vast oceans, tall mountains, rolling plains, canyons, swamps, and deserts. The tallest mountain on our planet, Mount Everest in the Himalayas, stands at an altitude of 8,872 m (29,108 ft). Located in Africa, the Sahara, the largest desert on Earth, spans over 500,000 sq km (2,123,000 sq miles) of land. The Grand Canyon, a canyon of multi covered rock terraces cut by the Colorado River, stretches over 350 km (217 miles) of land. |
| The Earth's atmosphere is composed mainly of nitrogen (77%), oxygen (21%), argon (.93%), and carbon dioxide (0.03%). |
| Coffee is the second largest item of international commerce in the world. The largest is petrol. |
| The world’s deadliest recorded earthquake occurred in 1557 in central China, more than 830,000 people were killed. |
| The total surface area of the Earth is 197 million square miles. |
| Plastics take 500 years to break down. |
| The most destructive disease is malaria. More than 1.5 million people die from malaria every year. |
| A mile on the ocean and a mile on land are not the same distance. On the ocean, a nautical mile measures 6,080 feet. A land or statute mile is 5,280 feet. |
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