Aug 12, 2009 [b]: All of the water... all of the air

Tick · 08-12-2009, 05:08 PM

Imagine every drop of water on Earth gathered into one place. Now all of the air. Is this what you imagined?

Quote:

Global water and air volume. Conceptual computer artwork of the total volume of water on Earth (left) and of air in the Earth's atmosphere (right) shown as spheres (blue and pink). The spheres show how finite water and air supplies are. The water sphere measures 1390 kilometres across and has a volume of 1.4 billion cubic kilometres. This includes all the water in the oceans, seas, ice caps, lakes and rivers as well as ground water, and that in the atmosphere. The air sphere measures 1999 kilometres across and weighs 5140 trillion tonnes. As the atmosphere extends from Earth it becomes less dense. Half of the air lies within the first 5 kilometres of the atmosphere.
Credit:
ADAM NIEMAN / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

barefoot serpent · 08-12-2009, 05:11 PM

air is pink?

newtimer · 08-12-2009, 05:33 PM

That water one doesn't seem right. All of the water in the world would fill up a sphere whose diameter is roughly the width of France? That's it? The oceans cover most of this planet; and oceans are more than 4 cm deep.

According to wikipedia, the Pacific ocean alone has 10,803,873,000,000 cubic kilometers of water. That's either 10 times more or 1 millions times more than what the picture shows for all of Earth's water (depending on whether you define a billion as a thousand-million or a million-million).

Either way, somebody's math was way off here. I suspect they looked at the surface area and confused it for the volume.

birdclaw · 08-12-2009, 07:31 PM

I agree with newtimer. That doesn't seem right at all. And come to think of it neither does the pink air.

Agent-G · 08-12-2009, 08:28 PM

Yeah, I agree, the graph might be skewed. Its probably not counting salt content in the ocean though. That would take up quite a bit of the whole precentage. But I agree with you guys, this picture doesnt look right

Elspode · 08-12-2009, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barefoot serpent

air is pink?

In LA, yes.

spudcon · 08-12-2009, 09:00 PM

If you look closely, you'll notice they forgot to take the water from the north polar region. It's still locked up in ice.

ZenGum · 08-12-2009, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newtimer

That water one doesn't seem right. All of the water in the world would fill up a sphere whose diameter is roughly the width of France? That's it? The oceans cover most of this planet; and oceans are more than 4 cm deep.

According to wikipedia, the Pacific ocean alone has 10,803,873,000,000 cubic kilometers of water. That's either 10 times more or 1 millions times more than what the picture shows for all of Earth's water (depending on whether you define a billion as a thousand-million or a million-million).

Either way, somebody's math was way off here. I suspect they looked at the surface area and confused it for the volume.

Methinks Wiki must have it wrong. (I know, blasphemy and sacrelige!)

To get 10,803,873,000,000 cubic km, you need:
1,000,000 km wide
by
1,000,000 km long
by
10.803973 km deep.

While 10 km does approximate the deepest parts of the ocean (still not allowing for the "shallow" areas), there aint no way it is 10 million km across.

The sphere on the picture looks about right to me; remember the oceans are (comparitively) just a very shallow layer smeared around the surface.

I haven't found the wiki source article, but I suspect someone incorrectly converted cubic metres to cubic kilometres.
Linear kilometre = 1,000 linear metres.
Square kilometre = 1,000,000 square metres.
Cubic kilometre = 1,000,000,000 cubic metres.
I guess they had cubic metres and just divided by 1,000.

ZenGum · 08-12-2009, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elspode

In LA, yes.

I thought that was San francisco. [gay smiley]

Kasszia · 08-12-2009, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barefoot serpent

air is pink?

Sure! This spring we had pink air. And it rained mud.

No, REALLY! So much dirt was kicked up during a day long windstorm that the air turned pinkish red. (I was 100 miles away and saw that ominous sky) Then it rained. It rained mud. And, since all our dirt is red...

Sundae · 08-13-2009, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tick

Is this what you imagined?

"Do you hear what I'm thinking? Is it how you imagined?"
Sorry, a line from one of my very favourite Neil Finn songs.

capnhowdy · 08-13-2009, 07:07 AM

Link. Please.

barefoot serpent · 08-13-2009, 09:35 AM

Planet Claire?

Quote:

She came from Planet Claire
I knew she came from there
She drove a Plymouth Satellite
Faster than the speed of light

Planet Claire has pink air
All the trees are red
No one ever dies there
No one has a head

one thing to realize about ocean depths is that it won't matter where a fairly big (~200m or larger) asteroid hits -- the water will be pushed aside as if it wasn't even there.

Sheldonrs · 08-13-2009, 10:11 AM

I sort of remember another statistic that kind of surprised me a few years ago. If al the people on the planet were to stand in one place, each given a 2 foot square to stand in, we'd all fit on just a few acres of land. That's 6 billion+ people!

xoxoxoBruce · 08-13-2009, 10:32 AM

And one port-a-potty.

08-12-2009, 05:11 PM	#2
barefoot serpent go ahead, abbrev. it Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Lawrence, KS Posts: 2,623	air is pink? __________________ Chooses rowing vs. wading

08-12-2009, 07:31 PM	#4
birdclaw putting the "g" in flight Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 145	I agree with newtimer. That doesn't seem right at all. And come to think of it neither does the pink air. __________________ “The difference between a man and a boy is, a boy wants to grow up to be a fireman, but a man wants to grow up to be a giant monster fireman.”

08-12-2009, 09:00 PM	#7
spudcon Beware of potatoes Join Date: May 2007 Location: Upstate NY, USA Posts: 2,078	If you look closely, you'll notice they forgot to take the water from the north polar region. It's still locked up in ice. __________________ "I believe that being despised by the despicable is as good as being admired by the admirable."

08-13-2009, 07:07 AM	#12
capnhowdy Blatantly Homosapien Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 6,200	Link. Please. __________________ Please type slowly. I can't read very fast............... and no holy water, please.

08-13-2009, 10:11 AM	#14
Sheldonrs Master Dwellar Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 4,412	I sort of remember another statistic that kind of surprised me a few years ago. If al the people on the planet were to stand in one place, each given a 2 foot square to stand in, we'd all fit on just a few acres of land. That's 6 billion+ people! __________________ Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and the world laughs AT you.

08-12-2009, 05:33 PM	#3
newtimer Operations Operative Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 479	That water one doesn't seem right. All of the water in the world would fill up a sphere whose diameter is roughly the width of France? That's it? The oceans cover most of this planet; and oceans are more than 4 cm deep. According to wikipedia, the Pacific ocean alone has 10,803,873,000,000 cubic kilometers of water. That's either 10 times more or 1 millions times more than what the picture shows for all of Earth's water (depending on whether you define a billion as a thousand-million or a million-million). Either way, somebody's math was way off here. I suspect they looked at the surface area and confused it for the volume.

08-12-2009, 08:28 PM	#5
Agent-G Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Lake Tahoe, California Posts: 103	Yeah, I agree, the graph might be skewed. Its probably not counting salt content in the ocean though. That would take up quite a bit of the whole precentage. But I agree with you guys, this picture doesnt look right

08-13-2009, 10:32 AM	#15
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	And one port-a-potty. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

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