Talk:Earth

♁

I was just looking through unicode tables, and noticed they use the above symbol in the sequence of symbols for planets in the solar system, yet the article makes no mention of this symbol. Wikipedia even recognizes the symbol means earth, since putting it into the search bar automatically redirects to this article. I was just wondering if anyone knew the story behind this symbol, or could add it to the Cultural and Historical Viewpoint section. Unless I misunderstood something about semi-protection in articles I should be able to do it myself, but I can't --Astrocom (talk) 18:28, 20 July 2016 (UTC)

Astronomical symbols lists it as one of the two distinct symbols for Earth, so it would make sense to include information about it. --JorisvS (talk) 18:36, 20 July 2016 (UTC)

Life

This article gives very little attention to life on Earth. Mostly what is discussed are the physical aspects of our planet. Can editors with biological science knowledge/expertise comment on this, and possibly contribute summary content? Thanks. Isambard Kingdom (talk) 13:41, 13 September 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 13 September 2016

There is a simple spelling mistake, it is "501", it should be "510". In chapter "Surface" first sentence is "Earth has a total surface area of about 501 million km2 (197 million sq mi).[13] ". It should be "510 million".

Reasons: [1] On the top right of the page it is stated 510 million. [2] 198 million sq mi translated to 510 million sq km. [3] 510 is a value that you can find in quoted source (after summing up land and ocean areas). [4] 510 is well known value from other sources.

87.206.67.120 (talk) 15:27, 13 September 2016 (UTC)

Done. Brianga (talk) 15:33, 13 September 2016 (UTC)

Earth's mass

Could someone with permission please add info about earth's mass relative to the total mass of the solar system? I couldn't find any easily accessible info online, so I calculated it myself to 0.0003%, based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Solar_System_objects_by_size#List_of_objects_by_radius. This is an important fact, so important that the Sun's wiki page has it on top.

Greetings earthlings! 30 September 2016 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.255.85.161 (talk) 10:34, 30 September 2016 (UTC)

Weather and climate

I found this section hard to read, particularly the paragraph on anomalies to the general rule that latitude dictates climate. I rewrote it as a bulleted list, not meaning to change any of the substance, except for the following:

• The material stated that the Northern Hemisphere is warmer than the Southern Hemisphere in comparable situations, even at aphelion, counter-intuitively; but didn't say why. The answer was in the footnote source: The Northern Hemisphere has larger land masses, which heat up more easily. I added this, and added the 93.55% statistic from Perihelion and aphelion (it is uncited there).
• The second paragraph is based on the deleted paragraph that stated that western coasts are milder. I believe this is because they are windward, and that the direction is opposite in the Southern Hemisphere, and have stated this.
• I added the fourth bullet, on altitude as a factor in climate. It is uncited and I am not sure it is stated in the best way.

The sentence on the Köppen classification, which appears above the bulleted list, probably ought to appear below it, as it is based on the anomalies listed in the bulleted list.

Finally, a lot of the same thing, including more precise dates for perihelion and aphelion and their variability, is stated below at Axial tilt and seasons and someone with more experience with the article should consider whether all the text is in the best place. Spike-from-NH (talk) 03:05, 20 October 2016 (UTC)

Uh 366=365?

"During one orbit around the Sun, Earth rotates about its axis 366.26 times, creating 365.26 solar days or one sidereal year.[n 7] ". Unless I'm missing something the 366 should read 365. I am not able to edit due to efforts of vandals (non- or anti-science unfortunates I suppose). Mcneale (talk) 01:05, 28 October 2016 (UTC)

It's called sidereal time. The Earth actually rotates 366 times in a year relative to a fixed point in the sky, but 365 days relative to the Sun. There is an issue in our articles, however, as this article ("Earth") says 366.26 days, whereas "sidereal time" says 366.24 days, and external sites don't agree either. It's confusing. — Huntster (t @ c) 01:32, 28 October 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 5 November 2016

The name Earth was first referenced 4000 B.C. by Adam and documented in the Bible book Genesis chapter 1 verse 1.

66.75.74.2 (talk) 22:28, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

I think this is ill-advised. The reference did not occur in 4000 B.C., least of all the English word, even to those who believe that the creation occurred in 4000 B.C. The article deals with Earth as a planet. (I think that even mentioning the number of nations is far afield.) Spike-from-NH (talk) 22:39, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

Agreed with Spike, this is a definite no-go for those reasons and far far more. — Huntster (t @ c) 23:46, 5 November 2016 (UTC)