If Earth were half land and half water, life would look completely different. For starters, we’d have way more space for cities, farms, and forests—but also a lot more deserts, since some areas would be too far from water to stay green. The oceans would shrink into smaller seas, which might make traveling by boat less important and change how trade works. On the flip side, the weather could get pretty extreme, with less water to regulate global temperatures and fewer rainstorms to cool things down. Marine life would struggle too, with fewer habitats and smaller ecosystems to thrive in. It’s fun to imagine, but honestly, Earth’s current balance is probably the best setup for all the life we know and love! Animation is created by Bright Side.
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FunTranscript
00:00Ever wondered what Earth would look like if it was split evenly between land and water?
00:05I mean, like, 50% land and 50% ocean.
00:09Like a cosmic pizza with just two toppings split equally.
00:13First things first, we all know that water is essential for life.
00:19That's why scientists search for water on other planets to find potential life.
00:24On our own planet, water covers about 71% of its surface, with most of it found in the
00:30oceans.
00:31What if we took away almost a quarter of that water and replaced it with land?
00:37If we did balance out the land to water ratio, we would see some pretty drastic changes.
00:43Due to the sea level drop, regions around the North and South Poles would dry up completely.
00:49Meanwhile, every continent on the planet would expand to reveal an enormous amount of new
00:55territory.
00:56This would be equivalent to the current surface areas of Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America
01:02combined.
01:04Imagine all those new vacation spots you could explore with all that land.
01:10This shift in the ratio of land and water wouldn't be all sunshine and rainbows though.
01:16With much less water covering the surface, our ocean currents would get messed up, leading
01:21to a destabilized climate.
01:24This would mean colder temperatures around the poles and even hotter temperatures in
01:28the already scorching equatorial regions.
01:32Rain levels would drop, creating dangerous droughts and new deserts in many inland areas.
01:39Let's not forget about the creatures living on Earth.
01:42Plants, animals, and humans would all need to adapt to being less dependent on water.
01:49Some animals may even evolve to be smaller or switch to a strictly carnivorous diet due
01:55to water scarcity.
01:57And sadly, lots of life forms in our current oceans would struggle to survive, which would
02:02be a huge bummer for all the fish lovers out there.
02:07Let's try to imagine a totally different scenario for our planet next.
02:11Back in 1884, the press reported on an astronomer who claimed to have discovered a cubic planet
02:18beyond Neptune.
02:20We've sure come a long way since then.
02:23We've come to know that in our universe, there's no possibility of planets being square, at
02:28least based on the information we have today.
02:32Let's travel back in time to 4.5 billion years ago when our own planet was just a hot mess
02:38of gas and dust.
02:40As this chaotic cloud collapsed, a hot star formed and began to attract all nearby matter
02:47with its gravitational pull.
02:49Eventually, a rotating disk formed around the star, and collisions between particles
02:55led to the formation of massive bodies, planets.
03:00And because gravity pulls equally from all sides towards the center, planets naturally
03:05take a spherical shape.
03:08But what if we spiced things up and skewed the distribution of gravity?
03:12Well, if you're feeling adventurous and want to live life on the edge, then welcome
03:17to the cube earth!
03:19Yay!
03:20We'd have six sides now, but don't get too excited.
03:23None of them would be any fun.
03:25You'd constantly feel like you're climbing up a steep hill, no matter where you go.
03:30That's because gravity is strongest at the center of each face, so the further away you
03:35were from the center, the stronger pull you'd feel.
03:39Say goodbye to taking standing tall for granted.
03:43If you found yourself on the edges of the cube earth, you'd find no lush and vibrant
03:49landscapes.
03:50All the water would pool at the center of each face, leaving the edges rocky and barren.
03:56And forget about breathing easily, the atmosphere along the edges and corners would be too thin
04:02or non-existent to support life.
04:05But we'll come back to that later.
04:08The climate on the cube earth would depend on how it would rotate.
04:12If it spun on an axis through two faces, then the climate would be similar to what we have
04:18on earth now, but more extreme.
04:21The top and bottom faces would be polar, while the other four would enjoy an equatorial climate.
04:27However, if the cube earth rotated through its corners, each side would have a climate
04:33with more moderate temperatures and precipitation.
04:36Say goodbye to extreme weather, but also wave goodbye to your equatorial paradise.
04:43On the bright side, you would probably be able to walk into outer space.
04:49Since the atmosphere is held down by gravity, and gravity would now be pulling towards the
04:54center of each face, the atmosphere would be thicker there and thinner towards the edges.
05:01If the cubic earth had the same volume as our round world today, its sharp corners would
05:06poke out beyond our atmosphere, creating unprotected and uninhabitable areas.
05:12But who says you wouldn't be able to rent a spacesuit and stand on top of the world
05:16and outside of it at the same time?
05:19Talk about taking your vacation to new heights!
05:23How about if our planet was completely covered with water?
05:27Well, it turns out that ancient earth might have been just that, a water world!
05:32According to some researchers, our planet was mostly covered with oceans about 3 billion
05:38years ago, with only a few scattered islands popping up here and there.
05:45The scientists who made this discovery have been studying rock samples found in Western
05:50Australia.
05:51By analyzing these rocks, they were able to determine that they formed in a hydrothermal
05:56vent system on the seafloor over 3 billion years ago.
06:01This information could have some major implications for how we understand the origin and evolution
06:07of life.
06:08See, scientists still have a lot of questions about where Earth's water came from and when
06:14it appeared, but by studying these ancient rocks, they're hoping to get some answers.
06:21One way they're doing this is by looking at the oxygen found in the rocks.
06:26You see, water with different values of oxygen can tell us a lot about the environment in
06:32which it formed, and the researchers found that the rocks from 3 billion years ago had
06:37heavier oxygen content than we see in our modern oceans.
06:42This suggests that at that time, dry land hadn't emerged yet, which means that Earth
06:48was mostly covered in water.
06:51Now this might not seem like a big deal, but it could actually help us understand how life
06:57first formed on Earth.
07:00If our planet was completely covered with water when the first single-celled organism
07:04emerged, then they probably didn't form on land.
07:08And if that's the case, it could mean that other water-covered planets might be ideal
07:14places to search for life.
07:17Our planet may never be fully covered in water ever again, but we might end up losing
07:23some, if not all, of our planet's hydration.
07:26Here's the deal, the sun is going to get hotter over the next few hundred million years.
07:32This isn't anything to do with humans and our shenanigans, it's just a natural thing
07:36that happens with all stars.
07:39The bad news is that the sun gets hotter, our planet is going to heat up too.
07:44And if things get really toasty, we're going to start losing our oceans to evaporation.
07:50Sure we've got plenty of time to hit the beach before that happens.
07:55Experts have been working hard on a super fancy computer model to predict exactly when
08:00all this is going to go down.
08:03And according to them, we've got around 1 billion years until things get seriously steamy.
08:10You might be wondering how they came up with that number.
08:13It turns out that when the sun gets hotter, it makes the atmosphere warmer too.
08:18And as the atmosphere warms up, more and more water evaporates from the oceans.
08:23There's a catch though, water vapor is actually a greenhouse gas, which means it traps heat
08:28and makes things even hotter down there on the surface.
08:32As we lose more and more water, we're going to end up in a loop where the planet just
08:37keeps getting hotter and hotter until there's no water left at all.
08:42Hey, it's not all about us.
08:44This research could actually help us find other planets with liquid water.
08:49By figuring out what kinds of conditions are needed to keep water on a planet, we might
08:53be able to identify some other hospitable worlds out there.
08:58And who knows, maybe in a billion years, we'll have colonized one of those planets.
09:03That's it for today.
09:04So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your
09:08friends.
09:09And if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!