Interesting Earth

These World Heritage sites will spark kids’ imaginations Discover humanity’s most awe-inspiring places and traditions, from Rome’s Colosseum to Bali’s shadow puppeteers.

Antarctica is Earth’s fifth-largest continent.
It may not be the largest or even the smallest continent (it’s kind of just stuck in the middle) but Antarctica stores most of the world’s freshwater—but more on that later.

The Antarctic Ice Cap contains 70 percent of Earth’s freshwater.
According to the American Museum of Natural History, only a little over 3 percent of the world’s water is freshwater. The rest (96 percent) is salt—or saline—and is found in the ocean.

About 90 percent of Earth’s freshwater is locked in ice.
That freshwater located in Antarctica? About 90 percent of it isn’t even water at all—it’s locked inside frozen polar ice sheets.

Antarctica is technically a desert.
Hard to believe, right, given all that fresh water and ice? But it’s true, as Antarctica sees an average of about 2 inches of precipitation per year.

Earth kinda, sorta has other “moons.”
Well, kind of. Called 3753 Cruithne and Asteroid 2002 AA29 —two asteroids that also orbit the sun—are sometimes considered Earth’s “moons” even though they don’t really fit the bill. Both asteroids remain very close to Earth—as close as 3.9 million miles every 95 years.

The Amazon is Earth’s biggest rainforest.
Located in the South American Amazon, the world’s biggest rainforest is where more than 30 million people and one in 10 known species on Earth call home.

The deepest point on the ocean floor is 36,200 feet below sea level.
It’s located in the Mariana Trench, according to NOAA.

Earth has a type of “recycled” rock cycle.
Come again? Earth has a rock cycle—igneous rocks transform to sedimentary rocks, then to metamorphic, then back again. Some scientists and experts think of this or refer to it as a “recycled” ground since the rocks change cyclically.

Earth’s lowest point not covered by the ocean is 8,382 feet below sea level.
But it’s impossible to get to. That’s because it’s located under layers and layers of ice in the Bentley Subglacial Trench in Antarctica.