More and more these days I hear how tornadoes, earthquakes, and how other forces of nature strike and change our lives from whatever normalcy we once had. Normal is an illusion; what’s normal for the spider is chaos for the fly. Morticia Addams taught me that. But I’m not here to discuss normal, to me there is no definitive definition of normal, for normal changes from person to person depending on their experience as they travel through life. Nature, however, is my favorite topic to discuss. I love nature, as most of you know. I love to walk outside and enjoy what’s been given to us by the universe. I love the fact that the earth was once just a single speck of dust, which through the forces of nature, bound together with other specks of dust by means of static as they were hurled through space when a star exploded causing a chain reaction. As that dust became larger it attracted other specks, large and small, becoming larger, which made the gravitational attraction that much stronger, which attracted more and more pieces. This took place over billions of years, and over time it was large enough to be bombarded by larger and larger pieces of rock that were also hurled into space. Over time the earth was almost as big as it is now but its atmosphere was not capable of sustaining life as we know it. It didn’t have much of an atmosphere; it was desolate and it needed something else, something to give it that edge to make life possible. Enter Theia. Some believe Theia was a protoplanet that struck the earth breaking apart in the process. Part of it broke into what is believed to be the moon, the other part was fused into the earth, causing the tilt needed for us to enjoy the seasons. In Greet mythology Theia gave birth to the moon goddess, Selene, therefore it’s fitting for scientists to give the name Theia to the planet that struck the earth and creating the moon. Theia caused quite a stir, and we are still enjoying some of its benefits. The energy released from the collision was so great it melted solid rock, and the entire planet was basically rock soup. The heat was so intense heavier elements sank to the bottom, giving the earth its molted iron core still around today. Lighter elements floated to the top and over time solidified, giving us a place on which to walk. Unfortunately the earth still didn’t have an atmosphere, so it was still bombarded by asteroids and other objects. Some of those objects contained frozen hydrogen and oxygen, and the intense heat and pressure caused the atoms to fuse forming water. As water evaporated it changed into gasses, creating the blanket of gasses we now call our atmosphere. The gasses liquefied and fell to earth as rain, eventually pooling together to form lakes and oceans. Rain fell on mountain tops causing the breakdown of elements on the surface, giving oceans its salty taste. The water you are drinking today has been around since the beginning of the earth. There’s no way to tell how many people and countless species have drank the exact same water molecule you have just enjoyed. That has nothing to do with the creation of the earth but I wanted to throw that in there just for shits and giggles because that’s the kind of person I am. The earth is still changing, that’s why we have earthquakes and other forces of nature. All too often I hear on the news about the “destructive power of nature.” Nature does not destroy, it simply changes its landscape. There’s no such thing as the destructive power of nature, it’s the “constructive power of nature.” The earth is ever changing, whether we are living on a mountain top in the middle of the San Andrea’s Fault, Miami, or any place on earth where so called disasters occur. Nature will build upon itself and we can’t stop it, we simply have to deal with it. Some of us will die, but that’s just part of the cycle of nature. We live because something died to give us life. Our bodies are constructed from star dust that was hurled into oblivion, and when we die bugs and other organisms will eat us, birds and small mammals will eat the worms, larger animals will eat the birds and small mammals, and we eat the birds and small mammals, and so on. It’s all one big cycle, including the death of the star at the beginning of this short and sweet article. Which brings me to the death of our star. Eventually our sun will die. As the sun uses its fuel source, hydrogen, it loses mass, therefore losing gravitational force, therefore becoming larger. This process has been taking place since the sun first began to produce heat. Eventually the sun will become so large it will engulf anything in its path, including the earth. The death of our planet will not be glorious, but have no fear for it will be about 4.5 billion years before that takes place. For now we can enjoy the sun in all its glory. I’m going to the pool. Happy Sunday.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Jun 2014 15:18:53 +0000
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