- The Earth travels through space at 106,560 Kilometres (66,600 Miles) an hour as it orbits the sun. That speed perfectly offsets the sun’s gravitational pull and keeps Earth’s orbit the proper distance from the sun. If Earth’s speed were less, it would be gradually pulled toward the sun, eventually scorching and extinguishing life.
- On the other hand, if Earth’s speed were greater, it would in time move farther away from the sun to become a frozen wasteland like Pluto, with a temperature of about minus- 300 degrees, also eliminating all life. As Earth rotates in its orbit, it is tilted at a 23.5-degree angle relative to the sun. Although not a direct factor in whether life is possible, the angle creates the change of seasons we are able to enjoy.
- Were the Earth not tilted, our climate would always be the same, with no change of seasons. If the tilt were greater, summers would be considerably hotter and winters much colder, wreaking havoc on plant cycles and agriculture.
- Life-sustaining water, So many of Earth’s forms of life are dependent on an environment in which liquid water is stable. This means that Earth must not be too close or too far from the sun.
- Astronomers estimate that, if the distance from Earth to the sun changed by as little as 2 percent, all life would be extinguished as water either froze or evaporated.
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