What Makes Earth Special Compared to Other Planets

By Clara Moskowitz 08 July 2008

This image, taken while MESSENGER was 34,692 miles (55,831 kilometers) above Earth, shows the
Galapagos Islands as tiny specks peeking through clouds. The line dividing day and night cuts through
South America, with night about to fall on the western half of the continent. The large bright spot to the
west of South America is the Sun’s light scattering off ocean waves.
(Image: © NASA/JHU/APL.)

Earth is one special planet.

It has liquid water, plate tectonics, and an atmosphere that shelters it from the worst
of the sun's rays. But many scientists agree our planet's most special feature might
just be us.
"It?s the only planet we know of that has life," said Alan Boss, a planet formation
theorist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Washington, D.C.

Though other bodies in our solar system, such as Saturn's moon Titan, seem like they
could have once been hospitable to some form of life, and scientists still have hope of
eventually digging up microbes beneath the surface of Mars, Earth is still the only
world known to support life.
"So far, we haven't found it anywhere else," said Alex Wolszczan of Pennsylvania
State University, who co-discovered the first planets beyond our solar system. He
agreed that life was Earth's single most impressive characteristic.

None of this is a revelation, but understanding what's special about Earth is crucial
for finding other planets out there and predicting what they might be like.

The fact that Earth hosts not just life, but intelligent life, makes it doubly unique. And
the planet's intelligent life (humanity) has even developed rockets that enable travel
beyond the planet, said Gregory Laughlin, astrophysicist and planet hunter at the
University of California, Santa Cruz.

"During the last half century, the planet Earth has fashioned together tiny pieces of
the metal in its crust, and has flung these delicately constructed objects to all of the
other planets in the solar system," Laughlin said, adding that these achievements
should be counted as an exemplary trait of our planet.

"From our anthropocentric viewpoint, we naturally separate ourselves from the

planet that we live on, but if one adopts the point of view of an external observer, it is
the 'planet' (taken as a whole) that has done these remarkable things," he
told SPACE.com.
Water World
To enable life, this most special of attributes, planet Earth has a number of ideal
features. It is unique among planets in our solar system for having water in its liquid
form at the surface, in an amount conducive to life evolving.
"The most impressive attribute of the Earth is the existence and amount of liquid
water on its surface," said Geoffrey Marcy, an astronomer at the University of
California, Berkeley who has helped discover dozens of extrasolar planets. No one
knows why Earth has the exact amount of water it does, which is relatively small
considering that water molecules outnumber silicate molecules in the galaxy, he said.

"The Earth is remarkable for its precisely-tuned amount of water, not too much to
cover the mountains, and not so little that it's a dry desert, as are Mars and Venus,
our 'sister' planets," he said.

Goldilocks planet
Earth's water is also special in that it has remained liquid for so long. How has Earth
been able to hold on to its oceans while those on other planets freeze or fry?

"Many details as to why Earth is the only planet with liquid water in our solar system
need to be worked out," said Diana Valencia, a graduate student in Earth and
Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. "Certainly the distance to the sun has made
it possible. A planet much farther in would receive too much energy from the sun, and
a planet too far out would quickly freeze."

Our planet's Goldilocks-like "just right" location in the solar system has helped, as has
its system of plate tectonics ? the slip-sliding movements of Earth's crust that are
thought to have created the planet's towering mountain ranges and plummeting
ocean depths.

"The fact that Earth has plate tectonics allows for the carbon-silicate cycle to operate
over geological timescales," Valencia said. "With the carbon-silicate cycle, the levels of
carbon in the atmosphere get regulated to keep the surface temperature around that
of liquid water."

Plate tectonics and water are inextricably linked. Not only does plate tectonics enable
liquid water to exist by way of regulating the temperature, but many scientists have
argued water enables plate tectonics to happen.

"Without water the planet would be geologically dead," said Caltech's Mike Brown,
discoverer of the newly reclassified "plutoid" object named Eris, which lies beyond
Pluto in our solar system. "Water is what lubricates plate tectonics, which is what
leads to the extreme difference between continents and seafloors, the large amount
of earthquakes and volcanoes, fresh mountain-building. Venus has no water, no plate
tectonics, no deep sea floor, no steep mountains, no continents, probably few
earthquakes or volcanoes. A much less geologically interesting place!"

Another "just-right" aspect of Earth is its size: If it was much smaller, it wouldn't be
able to hold on to our precious atmosphere, but much larger and it might be a gas
giant too hot for life.

The presence of our big brother planet, Jupiter, farther out in the solar system
blocking Earth from much of the incoming debris, has also helped Earth become a
safe haven for life. Jupiter acts like a giant broom, sweeping the solar system of debris
? rocks as small as cars and as huge as moons ? that could snuff out life in one fatal
blow. This protective effect was particularly helpful in the solar system's early years,
when Earth still got pummeled but, scientists say, not nearly as bad as would have
been the case without Jupiter.

A friendly moon
Life on Earth may also owe a debt to our nearest celestial neighbor, the moon.
Earth's moon stabilizes our planet's rotation, preventing drastic movements of the
poles that could cause massive changes in climate that some scientists think could
have doomed any chance for budding life to form or evolve.

The moon also helpfully pulls the ocean's tides, which scientists suggest might have
been the perfect place for early life to begin evolving to survive on land.

Though Earth has the necessary ingredients for life, it's unclear whether the
development of life here might have been a one-time fluke, or if it's something that
happens pretty much everywhere the conditions are right.

Rare Earth
All of these features make Earth special among known planets near and far.

"You hear all the time how Earth-like Mars is, but if you were taken to Mars you
wouldn?t feel happy there at all," said University of Washington astronomer Don
Brownlee, author of the book "Rare Earth" (Springer, 2003). "It's not Earth-like. And
Titan, when the [Huygens] probe landed, there was all this stuff in the media about
how Earth-like it is. Earth-like? It is completely different. It has all this methane on
the surface. Venus has about the same mass [as Earth], almost the same distance from
the sun. But it?s a totally different place ? no oceans, no plate tectonics ? and it's not a
place you would want to be."

So far, we haven't seen any planet outside the solar system come very close to Earth
either.

Of the nearly 300 new worlds glimpsed elsewhere in the galaxy, most are "hot
Jupiters" ? large planets that orbit close to their stars, on which life and liquid water
are unlikely to exist.

"I doubt that in our galaxy typical stars have planets just like Earth around them,"
Brownlee said. "I'm sure there are lots of planets in the galaxy that are somewhat
similar to Earth, but the idea that this is a typical planet is nonsensical."

Brownlee's view may be in the minority, however.

Not-so-special Earth
As our planet-hunting technology improves, many planet hunters expect to find
Earth's twin. The search has led scientists to debate whether Earth is really as special
as we think it is.
"In the past 10 years, everything has been pointing in the direction of, 'Hey, the solar
system, which we thought was unique, is not unique at all,'" said Alan Boss.

Boss and many other scientists think it's likely that some form of life exists on some
of those countless other planets out there.
 "Certainly there will be other planets that support life," he said. "I think life is actually
quite common. I think we're going to find there are literally billions of them in the
galaxy."

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Planet Earth, explained

EARTH, OUR HOME planet, is a world unlike any other. The third
planet from the sun, Earth is the only place in the known universe
confirmed to host life.

With a radius of 3,959 miles, Earth is the fifth largest planet in our solar
system, and it's the only one known for sure to have liquid water on its
surface. Earth is also unique in terms of monikers. Every other solar
system planet was named for a Greek or Roman deity, but for at least a
thousand years, some cultures have described our world using the
Germanic word “earth,” which means simply “the ground.”

The Earth Is Unique

Evidence for Creation › Evidence from Nature» Next

As far as science "knows," the planet earth is unique in the entire universe. Certainly
this is true in our own solar system. Nothing that we have observed leads us to believe
that there is any other planet like earth.

The Earth Itself

A brief glance at the earth compared to all other known planets reveals
many contrasts. Even from outer space, the earth stands in stark
contrast to the other planets in our solar system. More...
The Sun and Moon
Of all the energy the sun gives off, only 0.45 billionths of its daily output
strikes the earth. More...

The Miracle of Water

The earth is the only known planet with huge bodies of water. Seventy
percent of its surface area consists of oceans, lakes, and seas
surrounding huge bodies of land. More...

The Miracle of Air

The mixture of gases usually found in the atmosphere not contaminated
by human pollution is perfect for life. If it were much different (e.g. 17
percent instead of 21 percent oxygen, too little carbon dioxide, etc., or
the atmospheric pressure were much higher or lower), life would cease
to exist on earth. More...

Unique Environment for Life

Earth is far better suited for life than any other planet.

Unique Environment for Life

Evidence for Creation › Evidence from Nature › The Earth Is Unique» Up One Level

If evolution works to evolve life to fit the existing environments, why has it not equally
conquered all of the various environments here and elsewhere?

Earth is far better suited for life than any other planet, yet even here most of the
environments are too hot, too cold, too far underground or too far above ground to
support much life. In the many thousands of miles of changing environments from the
center of the earth to the edge of its atmosphere, there are only a few meters of
habitable environment for most life forms, and therefore, almost all creatures are forced
to live there. Although in our solar system only the earth was made to be inhabited
(Isaiah 45:18), even on the earth only a thin slice is ideally suited for most life-forms,
including those we are most familiar with, such as mammals, birds, and reptiles.

This thin section, though, is teeming with life. It is estimated that an acre of typical farm
soil, six inches deep, has several tons of living bacteria, almost a ton of fungi, two
hundred pounds of one-cell protozoan animals, about one hundred pounds of yeast,
and the same amount of algae.
 Why Our Planet Earth Is Unique?
(a) It is a habitable planet. It is the only planet in the solar system that supports
life. All forms of life right from the minutest microscopic organism to huge land
and marine animals.

(b) Its distance from the sun (approximately 150 million kilometers) is appropriate
to give it an average temperature of 18 to 20 degrees Celsius. It is neither as hot as
Mercury or Venus nor as cold as Jupiter or Pluto.

(c) It has abundance of water (71%) which no other planet has.

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(d) It has the biosphere which provides us with food, shelter, clothing and
minerals.

(e) It does not have poisonous gases like helium or methane as Jupiter has.

(f) It is rich in oxygen which makes life possible on the earth.

(g) Its atmosphere acts as a blanket protecting the earth from extremes of
temperature.

Project Planet: What makes Earth home?

Planet | Hot topics | April 19, 2018

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Is our planet really one-of-a-kind? We take a look at the things that might make that true.

Earth used to be the planet. It was the centre of the universe. The
Sun, the Moon, the planets, the stars … everything revolved
around it.
Then, in the early 1500s, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was
all, “Guys, it’s actually the Sun in the middle …”

Embed from Getty Images

And just like that, our universe was turned upside down.
A couple centuries later, it was “Whoa, actually we’re just one
planet in a massive galaxy called the Milky Way …”
Then, “So actually, the Milky Way is just one galaxy of billions in a
universe …”
As minds like Newton and Einstein used their brilliance to expand
our universe, Earth started to seem pretty, well, average. Stephen
Hawking called Earth “a moderate-sized planet, orbiting around a
very average star in the outer suburb of one among a hundred
billion galaxies.”
Ouch.
But over the past 15 years or so, more and more scientists are
saying that Earth is quite unique after all. And that even if life
exists elsewhere, the complex life that we see around us every
day is very rare indeed.
Is it really possible that Earth is a one-in-a-trillion-trillion-trillion
planet?
We are glad that you asked!
Juuuust right

When astronomers look for possible planets that can sustain life, they first check if they are within

their system's Goldilocks zone. Though three planets are within it in our own solar system, that

doesn't guarantee life. (NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech)

You may have heard of the Goldilocks zone? It's also called a
habitable zone. It’s a theory that suggests that a planet needs to
be at just the right distance from the Sun—not too close, not too
far—to allow for the ideal temperatures to sustain life.
For one, correct temperatures allow for plenty of liquid water since
it’s a) not so cold that it’s frozen, and b) not so hot that it all
evaporates! When you consider that water is vital to all living
things—we’re 70% water—lots of great things can happen with
liquid on the surface.

Magic motion

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Plate tectonics recycle carbon, change our landscapes, and help create an ideal home for life. (Getty

Embed)

But while it is true that our distance from the Sun probably gave
us liquid water, a big part of what keeps it here is ouratmosphere.
The correct amount of carbon in the atmosphere traps heat,
keeping our planet nice and cozy! How does Earth keep that
carbon balance?
Tectonic plates are the large pieces of the Earth’s crust that are in
constant motion. This movement is what gives us mountains,
canyons, and earthquakes. It is also a huge part of what drives
the carbon cycle on Earth. (Hold on to your hats for this one!)
Basically, as some plates of crust get pushed under the surface,
they carry absorbed carbon with them, deep into the molten
magma of Earth. Eventually, this carbon gets sprayed back into
Earth’s atmosphere through volcanic eruptions—but the point is
that for a time, some carbon is taken away. Why does this
matter?
Many scientists think that for a while, Venus likely had water on its
surface, like Earth. Maybe life. But you know what it didn’t have?
Plate tectonics. Today, Venus is an unliveable planet with an
average temperature of 462°C (863°F) and an atmosphere
overloaded with heat-trapping carbon with nowhere else to go.
Coincidence? We think not!

Helpful neighbours

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Meet Jupiter: our solar system's DustBuster. (Getty Embed)

We already know that Earth orbits a star (yup, the Sun!) that is a
perfect size, lifespan, and stability for life. That alone is special.
But we have more to be grateful for in our cosmic neighbourhood.
The mighty gravity of huge gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn
does a tremendous job of sucking in potentially dangerous
invaders such as asteroids and comets. Sure, we still get the odd
rocky intruder in these parts, but without Jupiter vacuuming and
keeping things tidy, it would be much worse.

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The Moon is the kind of friend that really keeps you grounded! (Getty Embed)

And then there’s the Moon. Its gravity and orbit around Earth
stabilize the planet’s rotation, allowing for a predictable climate.
Without the Moon, Earth would wobble more on its axis. There
would be a greater chance of a tropical paradise becoming an ice
world in the blink of an eye—before life really got going. In a way,
the Moon helps provide life.
Putting it together

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Even though Earth can have a bit of a temper, it also knows when to chill out, too. (Getty Embed)

As scientists continue to search the universe, they are finding

plenty of planets. But finding a true cousin of Earth is proving hard
to do. Most planets seem to be either wild, wind-whipped worlds
with thousand-year storms or barren wastelands full of meh.
Meanwhile, Earth has a perfect blend of chaos and routine. We
have warming carbon, storms, volcanoes, plate tectonics, and a
broad range of climates and habitats. (That’s our wild side!) But
we are also sheltered by Jupiter, stabilized by the Moon, and
ruled by seasons that run like a clock. (Ah, good ol’ predictable
Earth!)

Complex life

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When it comes to places to live, Earth is pretty tough to beat. (Getty Embed)

In the end, the really big question is, how rare is complex life?
Scientists think it’s only a matter of time before we find some
kind of life elsewhere in the universe. Many even think that it’s
elsewhere in our solar system, like on Saturn’s moons Titan and
Enceladus. But life like whales and dogs and horses? Life like us?
Many researchers are thinking that such life is extremely rare. No
matter how far out we look.
So is Earth that special? It’s a question that we’re still far from
knowing a complete answer to. Either way, it’s clear we’re pretty
lucky to be here on this planet!