Inteligent Design
Do we take Planet Earth for granted? Or do we ever stop to consider just how wonderfully unique our planet is? We hear a good deal about ´extra-terrestrial life´ these days, and science fiction stories have tended to increase speculation about the possibility that organic life exists elsewhere in the universe. However, all such speculation ignores one very important fact: that very special conditions make life on earth possible, conditions which are not known to exist anywhere else in the entire universe! Scientists do not even know of the existence of any other planetary system, let alone any earth-like planets. Our earth certainly seems to be quite unique, and some of the earth´s unique features are detailed below.
The
Earth´s size
The diameter of the earth is 8,000 miles. Do you know that this size is
crucial for the existence of life? If the earth´s size varied 10%
either way, life would be impossible. If its diameter were only 7,200
miles, most of the atmosphere would escape, due to the lower gravity,
and almost the whole earth would be reduced to a waste of snow and ice.
A diameter of 8,800 miles, on the other hand, would double the weight
of the atmosphere, increasing the total amount of water, so that the whole
planet would probably be inundated.
Orbit
and rotation
The earth orbits the sun every 365.25 days, and the axial tilt of 23.2
degrees gives us our four seasons. The length of our year gives time for
crops to be planted and harvested but is not so long that we cannot exist
until the next harvest. Imagine what would be like if the earth took 84
years to orbit the sun, as the planet Uranus does! Or what if it were
only 88 days, as is the case with Mercury? The earth´s rotation
every 24-hours is very convenient; a longer interval would mean that the
earth´s surface would heat tremendously during the day, whilst temperatures
would plunge to life--destroying levels during the prolonged hours of
darkness. Most of the other planets in our solar system have much longer
or shorter periods of rotation, ranging from 10 hours for Saturn to 243
days for Venus.
Distance
from Sun
The earth´s distance from the sun - average 93 million miles - seems
to be just right to ensure temperatures suited for organic life. The earth´s
average temperature is 59 degrees F. Venus, at 67 million miles from the
sun, has an average temperature of 878 degrees F, whilst Mars, at 141
million miles, averages minus -58 degrees F. A well-known (evolutionist)
magazine commented: ´Earth thrives in such a narrow niche between
unlivable extremes.´(1) If the earth´s average temperature
rose only four or five degrees many of the large cities would be under
water, due to the melting of the polar ice-caps. This would also inundate
hundreds of thousands of square miles of fertile farmland.
Atmosphere
In contrast to the other planets in the solar system, where only traces
of oxygen exist, and whose atmospheres are made up largely of poisonous
gases, the earth´s atmosphere has 21% oxygen. This appears to be
an ideal percentage. A greater amount of oxygen - say 50% - would make
our planet highly inflammable. Lightning striking a tree would cause a
whole forest to explode into flame. However, if the oxygen content of
the air were only 10% fire would not burn at all.
Oxygen also helps maintain the vital ozone layer 40 miles above the earth, This acts as a ´buffer´ which deflects deadly ultra-violet rays from the sun. If the ozone layer - only about one eighth of an inch thick if compressed - should suddenly disperse, all life on earth would perish within minutes. Compare earth´s atmosphere with that of Venus, which consists of carbon dioxide and methane gas!
´The earth is unique because it is the only world in our solar system upon which we could survive.´ So wrote a well-known astronomer.(2) Is this uniqueness the result of coincidence and accident? The evolutionist must believe so, but that surely takes a lot of faith. As we contrast the other barren, lifeless bodies in space with our own planet, teaming with life, does it not make more sense to believe that the earth is like it is because it was designed that way by a loving Creator? That ´God, who formed the earth and made it... formed it to be inhabited.´!(3)
References:
1. National Geographic. Vol 167. No.1. January 1985.
2. Patrick Moore: ´A Guide to the Planets´
3. Isaiah 45:18.