THE LIVING PLANET

  

PLANET Earth hosts a prodigious amount and variety of living organisms—perhaps many millions of species. Much of this life, which thrives in the soil, the air, and the water, is too small for the naked eye to see. For example, just one gram (0.04 ounces) of soil has been found to host 10,000 species of bacteria, not to mention the total number of microbes! Some species have been found up to two miles [3 km] underground!

The atmosphere too is packed with life—and this does not mean just birds, bats, and insects. Depending on the time of year, it is also filled with pollen and other spores, as well as seeds and—in certain areas—thousands of different kinds of microbes. “This puts the diversity of microbes in the air on par with the diversity of microbes in the soil,” says Scientific American magazine.

Meanwhile, the oceans remain largely a mystery because in order to study the watery deep, scientists often have to use costly technology. Even coral reefs, which are relatively accessible and are well-surveyed, may host millions of yet unknown species.

What we do know, though, is that planet Earth hosts so much life that as a result, life actually changes chemical properties of the planet, particularly its biosphere—the part of the earth where life exists. In the oceans, for example, the calcium carbonate in shells and coral helps to stabilize the chemistry of the water “much the same as an antacid works in the stomach,” says a report by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Plants and phytoplankton—single-celled algae found near the surface of lakes and oceans—help to regulate carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in water and air. And in the soil, bacteria and fungi work as decomposers, providing inorganic nutrients for plants. Yes, earth has rightly been called the living planet.

Yet, terrestrial life could not exist were it not for some extremely fine tuning in a number of areas, some of which were not fully grasped until the 20th century. That fine-tuning includes the following:

1. Earth’s location in the Milky Way galaxy and the solar system, as well as the planet’s orbit, tilt, rotational speed, and moon

2. A magnetic field and atmosphere that serve as a dual shield

3. An abundance of water

4. Natural cycles that replenish and cleanse the biosphere

As you consider these topics in the articles that follow, ask yourself: ‘Are earth’s features a product of blind chance or of intelligent design? If the latter, what was the Creator’s purpose in forming the earth?’ The final article of this series will discuss that question.

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