The Earth E-Book

Dr. Heike Herrmann

• Herausgeber: Naumann & Göbel Verlag
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Serie: So much to know!
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Seitenzahl: 98

Beschreibung

Why is the Earth called the "blue planet�? What causes a tsunami? What is renewable energy? Rainforests and deserts, plants and animals, wind and weather, astronomers and explorers - this fascinating book of facts provides boys and girls aged 8 and above with a comprehensive insight into the living environment that is our Earth. Impressive photography and detailed illustrations demonstrate the full diversity of our planet, from its origins through to the different climate zones, landscapes and natural resources as well as the development of mankind. The issue of what we can do to protect the Earth is a further focal point. - Visual: over 160 photos and illustrations - Reliable: contents checked by experts - Useful: basic knowledge for school

Leseprobe

eBooks

Dr. Heike Herrmann

The EARTH

TO KNOW!

So much

Contents

6

34

The Earth from

afar

Mankind’s home planet is a marvel-

lous habitat in the middle of the

universe and is fascinating when

viewed from space.

Extreme forces

of nature

Be it a tornado, a hurricane or an

earthquake, there is not much that

human beings can do in the face of

these forces of nature. A good

warning system is a help.

The Earth up close .................................4

The Earth from afar ..............................6

Sun, Moon and Earth .............................8

Explorers and astronomers ................10

The Earth in the universe ...................12

The continents .....................................14

Mountains and rocks ...........................16

Erosion and cave formation ................18

Reading maps ......................................20

Atmosphere, wind and weather .........22

Water circulation ................................24

Climate and climate zones ..................26

Reading maps

20

40

Nature’s records

46

A holiday trip, a city tour, a GPS device

is almost always to hand. We ought

to still be able to read maps today,

however.

Climate change

and protection

Human beings today have an infl u-

ence on the atmosphere and the

climate. The Earth’s climate has

undergone continual change for mil-

lions of years but the changes now

appear to be threatening.

Swelteringly heat in the deserts and

freezing cold in the polar regions,

seemingly unending rivers and

enormous caves – the Earth provides

astonishing extremes.

Polar regions, tundra, forest

and steppe ..............................................28

Deserts, coastlines, oceans

and lakes ..............................................30

Volcanoes – the Earth breathing fire ..32

Extreme forces of nature ....................34

The origin of life on Earth ...................36

The Earth as man’s habitat .................38

Climate change and protection ............40

Natural resources and renewable

energy ...................................................42

Farmland and water .............................44

Nature’s records ...................................46

Index of key words ...............................48

The Earth up close

4

We get up in the morning and have breakfast, take

the bus to school perhaps. That is the normal every-

day routine. If we were to think about our world

more carefully, however, we would not even get as

far as getting up: we would have to ask ourselves

why we were able to lie in bed so comfortably

instead of floating in the room like astronauts.

In fact, where does the oxygen we breathe come

from? Or we would have to think about why the

Sun always shines into our room from the east in

the morning. And so it would go on the whole day.

Now it is time to answer many of these questions!

Is the Earth the only planet

supporting life?

The Earth is indeed the only planet known

to us on which life is possible. Space

probes have been sent to the neigh-

bouring planets of Venus and Mars but

nowhere within our solar system have

we been able to find a definite sign of life,

neither in the past nor at present. We do

know for certain that other solar systems

have planets, however, and this raises the

question of whether there might not be

life there – perhaps even intelligent life. It

is indeed possible that, on another planet

somewhere in the expanse of the uni-

verse, someone else is sitting there with

some kind of telescope, discovering the

Earth and asking themselves exactly the

same question!

The habitat on Earth

Only air, water and earth are

able to support and sustain life,

at least life as we know it.

The image of the Earth up close

is characterised by a great many

colours.

1

2

3

4

5

What does the Earth look

like on the inside?

In 1991 scientists attempted to build

an artificial atmosphere. They wanted

to create a self-sustaining system independent of the world outside and

one in which life is possible on a long term basis. The smallest members

of the project, the microorganisms, were responsible for the project’s

failure, however. They reproduced so rapidly that they deprived the

other living organisms of oxygen.

Where on our planet is life

able to exist?

The flat Earth

In Antiquity many people

believed that the Earth was

fl at.

Living organisms exist on Earth in a

wide variety of environments. Bacte-

ria are also found in hot springs, and

there are algae even under the polar

ice. Signs of life have even been found

at the deepest point in the ocean, the

Mariana Trench located at a depth

of about 11,000 m, and the maxi-

mum flight altitude of birds is

around 8000 m. Nevertheless, the

area in which the majority of life

forms are found is not very large. It

able to exist are called the biosphere.

This is also where all of the chemical

substances essential for life are to be

found.

extends from the upper soil layer up

to a height of around 5000 m. In their

entirety, all of the zones in which life is

The Earth is not exactly spherical. The Equator, a circle that is equi-

distant from both poles (40,000 km in length, 12,756 km in diameter),

divides the Earth into two hemispheres. The Earth is comprised of

several layers, like an onion, the matter with the greatest density

being at the Earth’s core and lighter rock layers closer to the

Earth’s surface:

1 Earth’s crust:

Continental crust, around 30-60 km thick, up to 700 °C;

Oceanic crust, around 5-10 km thick, up to 700 °C

Earth’s mantle:

2 Upper mantle, about 600 km thick, up to 1300 °C;

3 Lower mantle, about 2200 km thick, up to 2800 °C

Earth’s core:

4 Outer core, about 2300 km thick, up to 3700 °C;

5 Inner core, about 1200 km thick, up to 4000-5000 °C

The solid earth on

which we stand forms

part of the Earth’s con-

tinental crust. The oce-

anic crust lies beneath

the world’s oceans.

Beneath that is the

Earth’s mantle, the

upper layer of which

is viscous. The lower

layer of the Earth’s

mantle is solid owing

to the pressure of the

rock lying on top of

it. There are “convec-

tion currents“ within

the Earth’s mantle as

a result of the rock

becoming heated at

great depths, then rising and cooling

and then sinking again. This causes the

movement of the continental plates on

the Earth’s crust. The liquid outer layer

of the Earth’s core is beneath the Earth’s

mantle. It comprises molten iron and

nickel. The Earth’s core is made of solid

metal.

We stand on the Earth’s

solid crust, while much

of what is beneath the

crust is in molten liquid

form.

The Earth from afar

6

Many things are a matter of perspective: if you are

standing in the midst of events you see exactly

what is going on directly around you. If you step

back a little, you then have a good overview of your

surroundings. This is exactly the same for astro-

nauts and scientists observing the Earth from space,

whether from a spaceship or with the help of satel-

lite images. For example, they are

able to observe the links between

weather conditions, determine cli-

mate developments and changes in

nature that perhaps affect the entire

planet.

What can you see of the

Earth from space?

Satellites “observe” the Earth 24 hours a

day. They have many purposes. Weather

satellites record weather conditions.

Navigation satellites are used for deter-

mining positions on Earth. Earth obser-

vation satellites photograph the Earth

and the images help cartographers to

produce maps. Scientists are able to

observe environmental changes. The

military uses spy satellites in order to

monitor troop movements. And anyone

can view the place where they live from

above on the internet.

Satellite images of the Eyjafjallajökull

volcano

The columns of ash from the Eyjafjallajökull

volcano in Iceland sometimes reached heights

of up to eleven kilometres and even para-

lysed air traffi c in Europe.

What does the Earth look

like to an astronaut?

A bright blue planet with layers of white,

majestic, beautiful and fragile in the

blackness of space – astronauts wax lyri-

Astronauts at work on

the International Space

Station, ISS. The Earth is

always in view from there.

The Earth as seen from

space: a fascinating blue-

white planet

A view of the Earth at night:

the dots of light indicate

heavily built-up areas.

cal when they describe the Earth. They all

agree that they return to Earth in awe. It

is only from space that we realise that the

seemingly big Earth is in fact small and

delicate. On the Earth itself we only have

an overview of our immediate surround-

ings, perhaps of the clearing of a lovely

area of forest. The devastating extent of

environmental destruction becomes evi-

dent from above, however; it becomes

clear just how much of the threatened

rainforests have in fact already been

destroyed.

A navigation satellite enables

the precise determining of

position to within a matter of

centimetres.

7

Do flying objects

from space reach

us?

Why is the Earth called the

Blue Planet?

The first human being in

space

The Russian cosmonaut Yuri

Gagarin was the fi rst human

being in space.

It is only from a distance that the Earth

appears as the Blue Planet. The Earth’s

surface is covered by three large oceans,

the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean

and the Indian Ocean. Two thirds

of the Earth’s surface is covered

with water. The oceans are an

important driving force for the

climate and the temperature dif-

ferences between day and night

would be much greater without

the oceans’ ability to store heat.

The evaporation from the oceans

also provides the precipitation

without which life on Earth

would be impossible.

A meteorite landed

on the Earth here

about 15 million years

ago.

In all probability we have

not yet been visited by

aliens from space. Alien

rock fragments repeatedly

approach the Earth, how-

ever. Small fragments burn

up in the atmosphere as

shooting stars (meteors).

Larger fragments do not

burn up completely and

pieces of them reach the Earth. These

pieces are known as meteorites. A huge

meteorite landed on the Earth some 65

million years ago. A huge cloud of ash

and dust swirled up into the atmos-

phere, darkening the sky. A great many

animals and plants died out, including

the dinosaurs.

Sun, Moon and Earth

It is

8

Spring

Winter

Autumn

Summer

The interaction between these three celestial

bodies influences life on Earth in a multitude of

ways. The movements of the Earth, the Moon and

the Sun form the basis for our measurement of

time. The Earth orbits the Sun within the space

of a year. A lunar month is the period of time

between one full moon phase and the

next. And the Earth takes about 24 hours

to revolve once around its own axis. The

tides, too, high tide and low tide, are

caused by the position of the celestial

bodies in relation to one another.

What causes the

seasons?

We are all familiar with spring, sum-

mer, autumn and winter – but why do

they occur? They are caused by the tilt-

ing of the Earth’s axis towards the orbit

of the Sun. This means that the Sun

does not shine on the Earth with equal

strength all year round. When orbiting

the Sun, the respective hemispheres of

the Earth sometimes lean towards the

Sun and sometimes lean away from

it. If the northern hemisphere is tilted

towards the Sun then the Sun’s rays

reach the Earth at a steeper angle

and a great deal of solar energy

reaches that hemisphere.

summer. The Sun is high up in

the sky at midday. It is warm

and the days are long. It is now

winter in the southern hemi-

sphere. If the northern hemi-

sphere is tilted away from the