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What is the hottest place on Earth?
Count one wrong if you guessed Death Valley in California. True enough on many days. But El Azizia in Libya recorded a temperature of 136 degrees Fahrenheit (57.8 Celsius) on Sept. 13, 1922 – the hottest ever measured. In Death Valley, it got up “only” as high as 134 Fahrenheit on July 10, 1913.
And the coldest place?
Far and away, the coldest temperature ever measured on Earth was -129 Fahrenheit (-89 Celsius) at Vostok, Antarctica, on July 21, 1983.
How much space dust falls to Earth each year?
Estimates vary, but the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) says at least 1,000 million grams, or roughly 1,000 tons of material enters the atmosphere every year and makes its way to Earth’s surface. One group of scientists claims microbes rain down from space, too, and that extraterrestrial organisms are responsible for flu epidemics, although there's been no proof of this, and I'm not holding my breath.
How far does regular dust blow in the wind?
A 1999 study showed that African dust finds its way to Florida and can help push parts of the state over the prescribed air quality limit for particulate matter set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The dust is kicked up by high winds in North Africa and carried as high as 20,000 feet (6,100 meters), where it's caught up in the trade winds and carried across the sea. Dust from China makes its way to North America, too.
Where is the world’s highest waterfall?
The water of Angel Falls in Venezuela drops 3,212 feet (979 meters).
What makes thunder?
Lightning, sure, but to be more illuminating: the air around a lightning bolt is superheated to about five times the temperature of the sun. This sudden heating causes the air to expand faster than the speed of sound, which compresses the air and forms a shock wave; we hear it as thunder.
Can rocks grow?
Yes. Rocks called iron-manganese crusts grow on mountains under the sea. The crusts precipitate material slowly from seawater, growing about 1 millimeter every million years. Your fingernails grow about the same amount every two weeks.
What two great American cities are destined to merge?
The San Andreas fault, which runs north-south, is slipping at a rate of about 2 inches (5 centimeters) per year, causing Los Angeles to move towards San Francisco. Scientists forecast LA will be a suburb of the City by the Bay in about 15 million years.
Is Earth a sphere?
Because the planet rotates and is more flexible than you might imagine, it bulges at the midsection, creating a sort of pumpkin shape. The bulge was lessening for centuries but now, suddenly, it is growing, a recent study showed. Accelerated melting of Earth's glaciers is taking the blame for the gain in equatorial girth.
What would a 100-pound person weigh on Mars?
The gravity on Mars is 38% of that of Earth at sea level. So a 100-pound (45 kg) person on Earth would weigh 38 pounds (17 kg) on Mars. (On the moon, your weight would be a measly 16 pounds (7 kg)!)
Can rocks float?
In a volcanic eruption, the violent separation of gas from lava produces a “frothy” rock called pumice, loaded with gas bubbles. Some of it can indeed float, geologists say.
What is the largest lake in North America?
Lake Superior.
Is Saturn the only ringed planet?
Saturn has the most obvious rings. But Jupiter and Neptune both have subtle ring systems.
And even Earth may once have been a ringed planet, the result of some space rock’s glancing blow.
On average, how much water is used worldwide each day?
About 400 billion gallons.
How much gold has been discovered worldwide to date?
More than 193,000 metric tons (425 million pounds).
If you stuck it all together, it would make a cube-shaped, seven-story structure.
Where is the world’s only equatorial glacier?
Where is the world’s only equatorial glacier?
What is the longest mountain chain on Earth?
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which splits nearly the entire Atlantic Ocean north to south.
Iceland is one place where this submarine mountain chain rises above the sea surface.
What is the highest, driest, and coldest continent on Earth?
Antarctica. Also the only continent to have no ants
At what depth do most earthquakes occur?
Most are triggered less than 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Earth’s surface. Shallower earthquakes have more damage potential, but a temblor’s destruction also depends largely on rock and soil conditions as well as building methods.
What are the two major gold-producing countries?
South Africa produces 5,300 metric tons (11.5 million pounds) per year;
the United States produces more than 3,200 metric tons (7 million pounds)
What's the deadliest hurricane to ever hit the United States?
A Category 4 hurricane hit Galveston, Texas in 1900 and killed more than 6,000 people.
The next closest death toll was less than 1,900 from a 1928 Florida hurricane.
Where are the oldest rocks on Earth found?
Since the ocean floor is being continually regenerated as the continental plates move across the Earth’s surface, the oldest rocks on the ocean floor are less than 300 million years. In contrast, the oldest continental rocks are 4.5 billion years old.
What percentage of the world’s fresh water is stored as glacial ice?
About 70 percent. And if you had to replace it all, you’d need 60 years of the entire globe’s rainfall, and then you'd have to figure out a way to freeze it all.
Where is the largest alpine lake in North America?
Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border has a 105,000-acre surface, holds 39 trillion gallons of water, and is more than 1600 feet (488 meters) deep.
What North American plant can live for thousands of years?
The creosote bush, which grows in the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan deserts, has been shown by radiocarbon dating to have lived since the birth of Christ. Some of these plants may endure 10,000 years, scientists say.