40 years ago, on Christmas Eve, 1968, NASA released a photo that was both stunning and inspiring in its beauty. The photo, called Earth Rise, in many ways launched the modern environmental movement. It solidified in our collective mindset what had been known for centuries, but was not popularly appreciated... our place in the solar system. This image was truly conscious-raising, and further ensconced the need to protect the only planet we have.
I would assert that a great deal of environmental abuses are exacerbated by our belief that the earth is "too big" for us to possibly have any lasting affect. So, now some statistics...
The radius of the Earth is about 6,400km, about the distance across the surface of the Earth between Barcelona and Toronto, Lahore or Lubumbashi. But, the earth is not a perfect sphere. It is in fact, slightly oblate, varying in diameter through the equator or along its axis of rotation by about 22 km. This is due to the fact that it is rotating and therefore becoming squished a bit. This spin, as you most certainly know is what turns day into night. Night, being thus, in the shadow of the Earth.
The Earth is tilted slightly with respect to its orbit, this giving rise to variations in the angle of sun rays hitting the surface and resulting in the seasons, as the northern/southern hemispheres either tilt toward or away from the Sun.
The Earth is mostly solid rock, from the centre to the surface. But, most of the interior of the Earth (the Mantle) actually "flows", though it remains solid. For the purpose of instruction, this is analogous to the physical properties of silly putty. For instance, if you put it on the edge of a desk, it will eventually flow off the edge under it's own weight. However, if you pull it apart quickly it will snap and break apart cleanly. The incomprehensibly slow fluid motion of the interior of the Earth driven by temperature variations (caused heating by radioactive elements) is what moves the continents, which are part of "tectonic plates". This motion can be actually observed in fact, using highly sensitive GPS receivers and satellite measurements to track movements, and for example, it has been found that North America and Europe are moving apart at about the rate that your fingernail grows! You can look up more facts about the Earth here
So, why do I mention all this? Maybe it seems that I am getting away from the message of Dan's contemporary pilgrimage through the centre of North America. Check out his Road Videos and his blog. Dan is now somewhere in New Mexico, since starting in northern Canada about three years ago. But, I really just mention it to emphasize the part of the Earth in which we live, the biosphere.
If you took a basketball and covered it with plastic food wrap, this would represent the relative thicknesses of the atmosphere compared to the solid Earth. With this in mind it is much easier to appreciate the influence we have on it. Everything we do, all of human and prehistoric history, all of our memories and experiences, took place in this thin envelope of gas and water and soil substrate.
I know social change won't happen overnight, but I believe that education is its key. So, here are a couple of things that you can do on your computer that will help you visualize and appreciate the Earth and how it works. One is Google Earth, and the other is a program called Stellarium.
You may already be familiar with Google Earth, as it is a very popular program for zooming in on a mosaic of satellite photos. But, it is also impressive for its ability to simulate the Earth as a whole, as a planet. You can, for example, turn on and off the Sun, creating the passage of night and day, you can even turn the atmosphere on and off and fly in a simple flight simulator.
But, Stellarium, literally turns Google Earth on its head by looking up! It is your personal planetarium. But it is more than just a map of the constellations. It is a simulator of the motions of planets, of seasons, of the passage of time. You can change the rate of the passage of time, set the view from any place on the planet, turn the atmosphere on and off, adjust the amount of 'light pollution', see what Earth looks like from Mars, even make the ground disappear to see exactly where the sun goes when it sets. One thing very neat about Stellarium is the ability to turn on/off the constellations, their associated art, and interestingly, change the constellation culture, from the well-known Western constellations, to Polynesian, Egyptian, Chinese and Inuit. See how our ancestors saw the Universe! Both these programs as totally free, so I encourage you download them and just play!
Peace,
Grant
The Earth is tilted slightly with respect to its orbit, this giving rise to variations in the angle of sun rays hitting the surface and resulting in the seasons, as the northern/southern hemispheres either tilt toward or away from the Sun.
The Earth is mostly solid rock, from the centre to the surface. But, most of the interior of the Earth (the Mantle) actually "flows", though it remains solid. For the purpose of instruction, this is analogous to the physical properties of silly putty. For instance, if you put it on the edge of a desk, it will eventually flow off the edge under it's own weight. However, if you pull it apart quickly it will snap and break apart cleanly. The incomprehensibly slow fluid motion of the interior of the Earth driven by temperature variations (caused heating by radioactive elements) is what moves the continents, which are part of "tectonic plates". This motion can be actually observed in fact, using highly sensitive GPS receivers and satellite measurements to track movements, and for example, it has been found that North America and Europe are moving apart at about the rate that your fingernail grows! You can look up more facts about the Earth here
So, why do I mention all this? Maybe it seems that I am getting away from the message of Dan's contemporary pilgrimage through the centre of North America. Check out his Road Videos and his blog. Dan is now somewhere in New Mexico, since starting in northern Canada about three years ago. But, I really just mention it to emphasize the part of the Earth in which we live, the biosphere.
If you took a basketball and covered it with plastic food wrap, this would represent the relative thicknesses of the atmosphere compared to the solid Earth. With this in mind it is much easier to appreciate the influence we have on it. Everything we do, all of human and prehistoric history, all of our memories and experiences, took place in this thin envelope of gas and water and soil substrate.
I know social change won't happen overnight, but I believe that education is its key. So, here are a couple of things that you can do on your computer that will help you visualize and appreciate the Earth and how it works. One is Google Earth, and the other is a program called Stellarium.
You may already be familiar with Google Earth, as it is a very popular program for zooming in on a mosaic of satellite photos. But, it is also impressive for its ability to simulate the Earth as a whole, as a planet. You can, for example, turn on and off the Sun, creating the passage of night and day, you can even turn the atmosphere on and off and fly in a simple flight simulator.
But, Stellarium, literally turns Google Earth on its head by looking up! It is your personal planetarium. But it is more than just a map of the constellations. It is a simulator of the motions of planets, of seasons, of the passage of time. You can change the rate of the passage of time, set the view from any place on the planet, turn the atmosphere on and off, adjust the amount of 'light pollution', see what Earth looks like from Mars, even make the ground disappear to see exactly where the sun goes when it sets. One thing very neat about Stellarium is the ability to turn on/off the constellations, their associated art, and interestingly, change the constellation culture, from the well-known Western constellations, to Polynesian, Egyptian, Chinese and Inuit. See how our ancestors saw the Universe! Both these programs as totally free, so I encourage you download them and just play!
Peace,
Grant
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