Biosphere Facts
Biosphere Facts
|
| Interesting Biosphere Facts: |
|---|
| The existence of extraterrestrial biospheres is only a hypothesis as there is no proof that biospheres exist elsewhere beyond the earth. |
| The biosphere is considered to be one of four layers surrounding the earth. The other are rock (lithosphere), air (atmosphere), and water (hydrosphere). |
| Many elements are important for the biosphere's existence, including the distance of earth to the sun, the tilt of the earth, and the seasons. |
| Factors that have smaller effects on the earth's biosphere include erosion, climate and climate change, the daily weather, as well as chemical erosion, oxidation, and biological erosion. |
| Scientists have dated the earth to being approximately 3.7 billion years old. This dates the biosphere to approximately the same age. |
| It is difficult to pinpoint the exact outer boundary of earth's biosphere as some birds are able to fly to as far as 11,300 meters high. These birds are called Ruppell's vultures. |
| The depth of the biosphere is also difficult to pinpoint as there are fish known to be living as deep as 8,372 meters in the Puerto Rico Trench. |
| The biosphere also includes the relationships between all living things as well as their interactions in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. |
| There are artificial biospheres as well including Biosphere 2, and Biosphere 3. Earth's biosphere is referred to as Biosphere 1. |
| Biosphere 2 is a scientific research center in Oracle, Arizona. It is an artificial, closed ecological system - the largest of its kind ever created. Originally its purpose was to show the possibility of such a system to support life in outer space. The biosphere was only used twice because it ran into problems related to food and oxygen, management issues, and fights among the resident scientists. |
| Bios-3 is a closed ecosystem that was created in Russia. The underground steel structure could hold three people and the longest experiment lasted for 180 days. |
| Scientists are hopeful that they will be able to create an artificial biosphere that will be able to sustain life on a planet such as Mars. |
| The creation of an artificial biosphere that is capable of mimicking the biosphere of earth is referred to as terraforming. |
| There is more water than land in earth's biosphere. |
| There are many biosphere reserves around the world today where efforts are being made to protect the environment. There are 669 biosphere reserves around the world located in 120 countries. |
|
Related Links: Facts Earth Systems Facts Animals Facts |