History of Earth, Atmosphere, Moon, Sun, Temperature

The Miraculous History of the Earth

The events that created our wondrous environment on Earth are astounding. Without divine guidance, modern science has no answer as to how life began.

Was life on Earth and the present existence of the human race created by random chance or was divine guidance responsible? This page will explain the amazing scenario that led to the astronomically rare environment on Earth. In truth, our environment is so incredibly comfortable and consistent that it is easy to take for granted. Just like the rest of the cosmos, we should all be reminded that faith and divine guidance are at the core of scientific discovery.

Authored over 2700 years ago ( in the 8th century B.C.), the prophet Isaiah references the cosmic majesty of a Creator and the Earth as a circular planet:

"It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in." -Isaiah 40:22

The Sun and Stellar Events

The Sun directly affects the Earth's temperature as solar radiation warms the Earth's atmosphere. Events including solar flares or gamma ray bursts from distant stars have the capability to destroy life on Earth. Thankfully our sun and other stars have amazingly remained stable enough throughout history as to not destroy life as we know it.

Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit and advanced forms of life struggle to exist above 100 degrees. This leaves a very narrow range of just 68 degrees to promote life when the temperature extremes of the universe range from -459 Fahrenheit all the way up to 2,556,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (2.5 decillion) degrees Fahrenheit.

When considering the consistent condition of Earth's near perfect environment for millions of years, it is nothing short of a miracle!

Incredibly, Earth’s consistent, uninterrupted distance from the sun has allowed for the continuous existence of our critical liquid water. If Earth was any closer or further away from the sun, life would simply not exist. This vital life supporting distance from our sun is referred to by astronomers as the “Goldilocks Zone".

The Earth has amazingly remained in the Goldilocks Zone for millions of years.

Help From The Moon

Without another stellar object, of a specific size, colliding with Earth to create a debris field that eventually coalesced into another object, of a specific size, now called the moon, life on Earth would also not exist.

The symbiotic relationship between the size of both the moon and the Earth and their specific distance from each other is the primary reason why the Earth’s rotational axis has had an undisturbed tilt for so long. The Earth’s constant tilt of a relative 23.5 degrees is critical in stabilizing our planet's uninterrupted life-sustaining climate and weather patterns. This relationship also keeps the Earth’s orbit from wobbling out of the Goldilocks zone. Simply put, this scenario is a mathematical and astronomical miracle!

Earth's 23.5 degree tilt stabilizes Earth's climate and creates our seasons.

This tilt also creates our seasons. As the Earth rotates around the sun, half of the year the northern hemisphere is pointed towards the sun (summer), while the other half of the year, the northern hemisphere is pointed away from the sun (winter). Venus and Mars do not have a moon with the same relationship as the Earth. This is why those planets do not have an atmosphere that still exists today, as their perspective rotations in relation to the sun have changed over time.

The moon also creates the Earth's tides. The Earth's reliable tidal cycles are crucial for many forms of life. Many scientists also theorize that the first land animals originally formed in tidal pools as creatures were forced to live in both water and land as each tidal cycle occurred.

Our Unique Atmosphere

The Earth originally had a very hostile atmosphere that was made out of toxic nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Without liquid water and an atmosphere with the proper amount of oxygen, the Earth would be relegated to a planet with no capability to support advanced forms of life.

Ironically, around 3.8 billion years ago the solar system suffered through a period where the outer planets change orbits. This led to a storm of asteroids and comets that collided with Earth which scientists today call “The Late Heavy Bombardment”. Without this cosmic episode, the Earth would be void of water. Luckily, as time went by, water accumulated across the Earth’s surface leading to the creation of our oceans.

Geological evidence reveals that this is when the Earth's atmosphere was conducive for the creation of bacteria. We obviously know that when organisms like bacteria (or a tree) digest carbon dioxide, it will produce oxygen.

Once this occurred, the Earth, via the process of Photosynthesis, eventually led to an atmosphere with enough oxygen and a unique planetary ecosystem capable of producing and sustaining advanced forms of life.

The Earth's Core

Lastly, we must not forget about the importance of the Earth’s interior core. Take away the proper amount of iron in the Earth’s central core and we would not have the precise strength in our magnetic field to continuously protect the atmosphere and our ozone in a life sustaining condition for millions of years. Remarkably, our long sustained atmosphere is the outcome of a complex mixture of events spread out over billions of years.

Without this unique life saving magnetic shield, life on Earth would also be destroyed by the continuous onslaught of toxic radiation that travels through the vast depths of space from our sun. This deadly radiation is known as the Solar Winds.

The Earth's magnetic field protects us from solar radiation.

When reviewing all of the unique factors and miraculous events that led to the Earth as we know today, what are the odds that they all randomly occurred naturally? This would be astronomically rare at best and a scientific anomaly when logically assessing the scenario from a rational perspective.

As science progresses and we continue to understand more about the incredible events in history that led to our present day Earth, the notion of divine guidance doesn't just become logical, but a rational requirement!