E is for...

Earth

Isn't our planet an amazing place?

Earth is currently the only planet where life is known to exist. Humans live on this planet, but so does millions of other species.

Astronauts are so lucky, they have the best view of the earth. I can understand why so many children dream of becoming one. Just imagine for a minute what it would be like to be in space and look at the earth...

Here are some random facts you might or might not know about or planet:

• The earth's surface is covered in 71% water and 29% land.
• Only 3% water of the earth is fresh, rest 97% salted. Of that 3%, over 2% is frozen in ice sheets and glaciers. That means less than 1% fresh water is found in lakes, rivers and underground.
• About 400 billion gallons of water is used worldwide each day.
• The people that live on Tristan da Cunha are over 2000km (about 1300miles) from their neighbors on the island of St. Helena. That's nearly as far as Moscow is from London.

Wouldn't it be awesome to go there?

• An average of 100 lightning strikes occurs worldwide every second.
• Lightning does not always create thunder. In April 1885, five lightning blots struck the Washington Monument during a thunderstorm, yet no thunder was heard.
• About 20-30 volcanoes erupt each year, mostly under the sea.
• About 540 volcanoes on land are known. No one knows how many undersea volcanoes have erupted through history.
• The earth's orbital speed is 29.8km per second.
• Antarctica is the highest, driest, and coldest continent on earth.

Please treat this awesome place well.