The world, which has more than 200 nations and over 7.8 billion people, is full of fascinating, funny, and interesting facts (in addition with plants, animals, and other living beeings). Continue reading to learn some fascinating facts about the Earth’s past, present, and future.

The world’s freshwater is carried by glaciers and ice sheets to the extent of 69%.

According to Water in Crisis, A Guide to the World’s Fresh Water Resources from the US Geological Survey, the oceans hold slightly more than 96% of the world’s total water supply (USGS). However, that is essentially seawater. You must travel to the poles to find fresh water because 68.7% of the world’s fresh water is encased in ice caps, glaciers, and everlasting snow.

On Earth, a wind gust reached a maximum speed of 253 miles per hour.

A remarkable record was broken in 1996 when a tropical storm by the name of Olivia made a fierce landfall off the coast of Barrow Island, Australia. According to the Weather Channel, “Olivia’s eyewall produced five extremely strong three-second wind gusts, the peak of which was a 253 mph gust,” breaking the previous wind record of 231 mph set in Mount Washington, New Hampshire in 1934.

The last 2,100 years’ three droughts in Europe were the worst.

Since 2015, Europe has experienced prolonged dry spells, high temperatures, and severe droughts. To ascertain the cause, scientists led by the University of Cambridge looked at isotopes in the rings of old European oak trees in Central Europe that formed over a long period of time. According to EurekAlert, they found that the dry spells are a “result of human-caused climate change and accompanying disruptions in the jet stream”!

The best place in the world to see rainbows is in Hawaii.

Hawaii is the place to go if you’re a huge fan of rainbows and want to see lots of them. According to a study by the American Meteorological Society, the region’s mountains “provide significant gradients in clouds and rainfall, which are important to numerous rainbow sightings.” Due to the amount of crashing waves, pollen, and air pollution, Hawaii ranks first in both rainbow quantity and quality.

In Greenland, there are preserved plants under 1.4 km of ice.

The Greenland Ice Sheet, which Britannica describes as “the biggest and possibly the only relic of the Pleistocene glaciations in the Northern Hemisphere,” covers more than 80% of Greenland. But is it usually this cold? Researchers found “well-preserved fossil plants and biomolecules” near the bottom of a 1.4 km core sample taken in 1966 at Camp Century during the Cold War, indicating that the massive layer melted and rebuilt at least once in the last million years. Brrrrr!

The ocean floor can be mapped using six whale songs.

Fin whales are the ocean’s Barry White. According to Scientific American, male marine animals make the loudest sounds to attract mates, which can be heard “up to 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) offshore.” Sound can be used to musically map the ocean floor because it can travel up to 2.5 km (1.6 miles) underwater, bounce back, and provide researchers with precise measurements. Furthermore, using a fin whale’s song is much more effective and has less of an impact on marine life than using a huge air gun, which is the usual equipment used by researchers, according to a study published in Science in 2021.

Deep-sea volcanoes have revealed seven new species of animals.

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America found “over 90 putative prokaryotic genomic families and approximately 400 completely undiscovered genera” in a deep-sea volcano close to New Zealand. Finding previously unknown organisms in the deep ocean may sound like something out of a science fiction horror movie. Like deep-sea volcanoes, hydrothermal vents have recently been connected to the “origin of life” in some studies. Are future land-dwellers starting to emerge? We’ll need to keep an eye on what happens next.

The size of Mount Everest has increased since the last measurement.

Although Mount Everest has long since reached adulthood, recent measurements by surveyors from China and Nepal show that the mountain summit is taller than we had previously thought. Prior observations, according to NPR, ranged from 20,029 feet in 1955 to 29,002 feet above sea level in 1856. After a protracted process of surveying Mount Everest with GPS sensors, scientists have determined that it stands at a magnificent 29,031.69 feet due to plate tectonics.

Flower colors are changing as a result of climate change.

Don’t worry, your favorite red roses won’t turn blue over night, but in recent years, flowers all over the world have changed due to an increase in UV radiation brought on by the ozone layer’s thinning. A 2020 study led by researchers at Clemson University found that UV pigmentation in flowers has increased over time, causing the destruction of pollen. Even though our eyes cannot see the color change, it is a significant problem for pollinators like bees, who are drawn to the vibrant colors produced by flowers.

The oldest profession in the world is dentistry.

Dentistry was first practiced when people first developed teeth, so not all that long ago. In contrast, a study found evidence of tooth drilling in brains dating to 7,500–9,000 years ago. The holes were most likely drilled with a crude bow drill. Could that be the first dentist’s creation? During a biting analysis on a 14,000-year-old skull, the University of Bologna in Italy reportedly found that “one rotting tooth in the jaw had been purposefully scrubbed and scraped with a tool.” That makes the dental industry one of the historically oldest professions, which is undoubtedly cause for celebration.