Earth Archives

January 13, 2023January 12, 2023

Mangroves Are Essential for Many Reasons

We have mentioned before the value of mangroves and barrier islands for protecting areas prone to hurricanes. Mangroves are essential for many reasons, including solving today’s freshwater and climate change issues.

Mangroves grow in brackish waters that are a mixture of saltwater and fresh. For that reason, they grow in delta areas where rivers enter the sea or in coastal areas with massive amounts of rain. Mangroves can filter out 90% of the salt in seawater that enters their roots, and the mangrove root systems provide a place where marine organisms lay eggs and raise their young. Recent research has shown that mangrove forests store up to five times more carbon than any other land-based forests, storing 87% of that carbon in the soil beneath their roots.

Mangroves are essential for many reasons. They stop shore erosion, sequester carbon, provide a barrier to storm surges, and make a place for marine organisms to lay eggs and raise their young. They also offer a home in coastal areas for bees to build their hives and birds to build their nests. As a result, the honey industry gets much of its wild honey from mangrove forests. In addition, bird watchers have identified many bird species that depend on mangroves for secure nesting areas.

God gave us all kinds of plants to provide for our needs. From the desert cactus to the evergreens in cold weather areas to the seaweed in the oceans to the land trees we use for wood, plants are essential creations of God. Unfortunately, research shows that humans have eradicated 50% of the mangroves in the last 50 years, and we will pay a heavy price for the loss. We must learn to use these incredible resources wisely.

Reference: “Family Trees” in World Wildlife magazine winter 2022

January 12, 2023January 11, 2023

Water Shortages Worldwide

Potable water shortages are becoming more of a problem in various places on Earth. The water problem in the western United States has received massive attention. On our “Canyonlands” trips, we always spent a day on Lake Powell, but the water level in that lake has dropped so much that the tour boats we used can no longer operate. The Rio Grande separating the United States and Mexico was once a barrier to crossing the border, but now it is so low that people can walk across it just about anywhere.

In many African areas, potable water shortages affect both humans and animals. For example, northern Africa’s Sahara Desert is roughly the size of the United States and is home to many animals and people. In other areas, a lack of wells prevents access to the water underground. So is there a weakness in God’s creation that causes water shortages resulting in thirst and pain for millions of people? The answer is definitely not.

God has provided water stored underground and in the mountain snow, but humans refuse to manage the use of these stored reserves carefully. The desert plants God created, such as the saguaro cactus in the American southwest, prepare to survive the dry season by storing large amounts of water when the rains come. We need to apply that kind of wisdom to avoid water shortages.

Underground rivers contain massive amounts of water in various parts of the world. For example, before the last ice age, the United States had a river we call the Teays, which was much larger than the current Mississippi River. It started in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio winding through northern Indiana and Illinois, eventually joining the Mississippi drainage. It was miles across. When the glaciers came through the area, they diverted rivers and filled the riverbeds with sand and gravel. As a result, the Teays River became buried, and the porous deposits today store massive amounts of water.

The largest freshwater lake on Earth is Russia’s Lake Baikal, which holds more than 20% of Earth’s fresh surface water, equal to all the U.S. Great Lakes combined. Lake Baikal is 400 miles long with 1300 miles of shoreline, an average depth of 2442 feet, and a maximum of 5387 feet.

The bottom line is that, on a global scale, we have no water shortage. Our “blue planet” appears blue from space because of the abundance of water. Unfortunately, like most environmental problems, we have failed to use what God has given us intelligently. We have the technology to provide potable water to everyone on Earth, but greed, selfishness, politics, and poor management combine to cause water shortages. Water is a creation of God that we need to manage wisely and distribute unselfishly.

References: “Smarter Ways With Water” by Erica Gies in Scientific American for January 2023, pp 12-14, or scientificamerican.com and Geofacts # 10 from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

January 5, 2023January 4, 2023

Survival Requires Change

We are entering an interesting time of change for living plants and animals on planet Earth. We are in a period of rapid climate change, and for many living things, survival requires change. However, for some life forms, this is not an issue. For example, omnivores, animals that eat a wide variety of foods, can change their diet to whatever is available. For example, bears in Alaska eat salmon, but if that is not available, they eat insects, nuts, plants, rodents, and marine shore life such as clams.

For other animals, the situation is much more complicated. For example, giant pandas rely on bamboo for food. Not only is their digestive system designed to eat only bamboo, but even their hands and fingers are designed to modify the bamboo so they can eat it. Polar bears rely on ice flows to get the seals that make up most of their diet. With much of the ice in polar areas melting, the bears cannot secure food, and starvation threatens many of them.

Survival requires change, and for some animals, that means migrating to a different place where they can find their dietary needs. As the oceans warm, cold-water fish migrate to northern areas. Some corals are establishing new colonies in different places as conditions where they have lived for centuries no longer meet their needs. On the other hand, animals with specialized equipment, such as pandas, will face extinction. Humans can step in with temporary solutions, but eventually, some forms of life will cease to exist. That is not necessarily a bad thing.

The fossil record shows us that survival requires change. A significant change in the climate caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. However, that eventually provided a climate and atmosphere where humans and the animals we depend on could thrive. Asteroid material did not directly destroy the dinosaurs, but the asteroid collision changed the climate. That change produced an environment in which dinosaurs could not survive, but it led to the formation of a climate ideal for humans.

Genesis 1:2 is an interesting passage. A possible translation of the verse is, “And the earth became wasted and emptied, and darkness was upon the face of the deep place.” That would indicate a change in Earth’s condition. God has used such changes to accomplish His will. The flood of Noah was not primarily an environmental act but a response by God to the sinfulness of humans at that time. Climatic change is another tool God has used in the past. In geologic time, there have been periods of hot and cold, and survival requires change. The current change in Earth’s climate is not solely caused by humans. We may contribute to the process, but humans are not the sole cause.

God’s creative processes don’t involve “magic tricks.” Instead, God uses natural methods to shape and mold planet Earth. Some animals, such as dinosaurs, have played essential roles in contributing to the resources that humans would need. When they had completed their mission, a change brought about their extinction. The Bible doesn’t tell us how God did what He did, but the more we study the creation, the more we understand some of His processes. Climate change has been one of them and may be so again.

January 3, 2023December 23, 2022

Our Unique Planet with Continents

Many things make planet Earth unique, including a life-supporting atmosphere, a large moon, a protective magnetic field, and continents. As far as we know, no other planet has silica-rich continental masses surrounded by liquid water. In these and many other ways, our unique planet with continents is like no other.

So, why do we have continents? Many factors make the continents possible. They include plate tectonics, volcanism, abundant liquid water, and even plant life. It also has something to do with the minerals. Other rocky planets that we are aware of have basalt on their surfaces. Earth’s basalt is mainly on the ocean floor. The continents are made of lighter materials, including granite, sandstone, gneiss, and slate. The continents also have volcanic rocks, cooled magma, and sediment.

Earth’s continents sit high because they are thicker and less dense, making them buoyant enough to sit on top of the basalt. Like other floating masses, the continental plates gradually move. Sometimes they have collided, causing their edges to rise, forming mountain ranges. The granite weathers and breaks down into sand and clay forming fertile land. Tectonic plate collisions formed the Appalachian mountains, which have weathered to become much lower than they originally were.

On the other hand, the Himalayas formed when the Indian Subcontinent pushed north, colliding with Asia. That northward movement is still at work, causing the Himalayas to grow faster than they are eroding. Other mountains formed through volcanic activity. The ash from that volcanism has created fertile areas for crops and vegetation.

Many factors working together create fertile continents suitable for life. Earth is a unique, constantly changing, life-supporting planet of continents surrounded by oceans that temper the climate and supply rain to water the land. From all that science can determine, there is no other planet like it!

Are all the factors that make Earth the ideal place to live just accidental coincidences or do they show design? We cannot explain the vast number of coincidences by chance. We see that our Creator gave us everything we need for life and put us here to serve Him. We have much to be thankful for and a great responsibility to protect God’s great gift to us. Leaving our unique planet with continents to move to another one is not a viable option.

December 30, 2022December 30, 2022

The Appearance of Design

Look around, and you will see amazing things in the natural world that give the appearance of design. Atheist evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has said that biology is the study of things that give the appearance of having been designed. But, of course, he does not believe they were designed because he does not believe in a designer. Is he correct, or is there a better explanation for the appearance of design? Here are some links to past articles in which we have dealt with that topic:

The Problem of Beauty

Is Design in Nature an Illusion?

Designing a Planet to Support Life

Marvels of Engineering in Nature

Designed with Purpose and Beauty

What Design Looks Like

Does Intelligent Design Destroy Science?

Those are just a few of the past articles on design that show evidence for a Designer. We believe that God has given us two revelations of Himself. One is His creation, and the other is His written word. The authority of the Bible is another subject we have dealt with often. Tomorrow, we will share some links from past articles on that topic.

December 28, 2022December 20, 2022

The Age of the Earth

Yesterday, we looked back at what we have said about dinosaurs. Of course, that topic always leads to questions about the age of the Earth. Some insist that the Bible tells us that the planet is 6,000 years old, or at least not more than 10,000 years. Does it really say that? Here are some links to where we have discussed this before:

Taking the Bible Literally

What Is the Real Age of Earth Issue?

Taking Genesis Literally

True View of Science and the Bible

Ice Core Data and Global Warming

When considering the age of the Earth, we invite you to go to DoesGodExist.tv and scroll down to video #28, “The Age of Things.”

A helpful booklet on this topic is “GOD’S REVELATION IN HIS ROCKS AND HIS WORD.” It is available to read on DoesGodExist.org.

Those are some of the materials we have produced dealing with the age of our planet and God’s creative process to make Earth the perfect home for advanced human civilization and for working out His plan to defeat evil. Tomorrow, we will consider evolution.

December 21, 2022December 19, 2022

Alien Minerals and Alien Life

Andrew Locock at the University of Alberta discovered two new minerals in a fragment of the El Ali meteorite that landed in Somalia. These minerals had never been found naturally on Earth, although scientists had synthesized them in a lab. Chris Herd, an Earth and Atmospheric Sciences professor and curator of the University of Alberta’s meteorite collection, named the two alien minerals “Elaliite” and “Elkinstantonite.”

The tabloids try to use this find to suggest that alien worlds exist that are radically different from Earth. The fact is that these minerals contain the common elements iron, potassium, and oxygen. Like many other “alien minerals” such as Brianite, Xifengite, and Heamanite, scientists have synthesized them. Inorganic materials can form new chemical configurations when they are subjected to temperatures and pressures not seen on Earth’s surface. All of these minerals with unfamiliar names are the product of conditions not present on the surface of our planet.

There are chemical restraints on what elements can sustain life. Biologists tell us that life is “that form that can move, breathe. respond to outside stimuli, and reproduce.” The elements that make those functions possible are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. For example, living things made of iron are not chemically possible, yet iron is the dominant element in meteorites. Oxygen is the one oxidizing element that allows respiration without adverse chemical reactions that would prevent life from surviving. For that reason, life forms breathing chlorine or bromine are not possible.

At the same time, alien minerals in meteorites do not mean that alien life is impossible. On the contrary, if there is life in space, it will be made of the same elements that we are. It may not look like us or live as we do, but we will not have any trouble identifying it as life.

Every time this issue comes up, it reminds me of my experience on a radio show. I was in Washington, D.C., doing a call-in talk show with Larry King (before he became famous) and a local atheist. We had a lively discussion about science and faith with some references to alien life. A caller said to the atheist, “What would you do if a spaceship landed on the White House Lawn and a little green man jumped out with a Bible in his hand and said, ‘Has Jesus been here yet?’” Before I could point out some problems with that proposal, my atheist opponent looked at me, smiled, and said, “Punt.” Larry King responded by going to a commercial.

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022

How Fast Are You Moving?

If I asked, “How fast are you moving?” you might reply that you are sitting still. However, don’t forget that you are sitting on a planet that is spinning on its axis. A fixed observer in space would say that you are moving with the planet’s rotation at up to 1000 miles per hour if you are close to the equator. At the same time, Earth is revolving around the Sun at roughly 66,000 miles per hour. The Sun is one of 100 billion stars rotating around a black hole at the core of the Milky Way galaxy at approximately 400,000 miles per hour. Meanwhile, the galaxy is moving through space at around 2,200,000 miles per hour. So, how fast are you moving when viewed from a fixed point in space?

The amazing thing about the creation is that each of these numbers is critical for our survival. The spin of the Earth on its axis distributes heat in a way that we are not frozen or burned up. The revolution around the Sun keeps us from being drawn into the Sun or slung into outer space and frozen. The movement of the Sun around the galactic core prevents the black hole at the center of our galaxy from sucking in the entire solar system and destroying it. The galaxy’s movement through space prevents it from being absorbed by another galaxy. The speeds are critically fine-tuned because there is no tolerance for error.

As astronomers look at other solar systems and galaxies, they see the speeds that allow us to exist are not that common in space. The simple statement of Psalms 19 that “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above shows His handiwork” reminds us that we are not the product of an accident. The more we learn about the cosmos, the more obvious it becomes that our existence is a product of intelligent design.

The psalmist also reminds us of the astonishing fact that the Creator cares about us. “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars which you have ordained, what is man, that you are mindful of him …” (Psalms 8:3-4). So how fast are you moving right now? Fast enough to exist and to know that there is a reason for that existence. Read Job 1 and 2 and Ephesians 3:9-11 and 6:12 to learn more about that reason.

December 8, 2022December 7, 2022

UFO Sightings – Real or Bogus?

For over 50 years, we have reported explanations for bogus UFO claims. Unfortunately, when researchers have presented natural explanations for claimed UFO sightings, the media rarely reports them. Researchers have written books giving evidence to refute bogus claims of alien visitation to Earth, but they don’t get the attention of the sensational claims.

No thinking person would insist that planet Earth is the only place where life forms might exist. If God saw fit to create life elsewhere, it will be there. However, alien visitation to Earth is poorly supported by the evidence. The distance from Earth to where a life-bearing planet could exist is so great as to rule out any being traveling from another world. UFO advocates claim that aliens are so technologically advanced they can overcome the problem of traveling light-year distances. However, if they are that advanced, they could certainly prevent any detection by earthlings if they choose to do so.

The entertainment industry presents horror movies of aliens using earthlings for food or wars in space between competing alien societies. If you enjoy fantasy, these entertainment presentations may be worth your time. However, for serious students of science or the Bible, this is a useless diversion. We must not become worried or distracted by UFO sightings, thinking that extra-terrestrials are invading us.

Likewise, we need to solve our problems here on Earth and not expect some aliens to come in and do it for us. Besides, aliens could not improve on the message of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible. Human greed, selfishness, and exploitation of others will continue as long as humans entertain the notion that God does not exist and that survival of the fittest is our only choice.

Here are some books giving credible explanations of many so-called UFO sightings or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP).
UFOs Explained and UFOs: The Public Deceived by Philip J. Klass
UFO Crash at Roswell: The Genesis of a Modern Myth by Charles Ziegler and Charles Moore
The Space Gods Revealed by Ronald Story

November 28, 2022November 17, 2022

Reading the Rocks in Wisconsin Dells

We have just enjoyed a return visit to the Wisconsin Dells. I say a “return visit” because, in the army, I was stationed at Camp McCoy near Sparta, Wisconsin. The closest place to go for an escape from military rigor was the Dells. Later, when I was in a National Science Foundation teacher training seminar, we spent a day at the Dells learning about the area’s geological history. I have been to the Dells nearly a dozen times and watched it change from a primitive camping area to a tourist water wonderland. As a geologist, I enjoy reading the rocks in Wisconsin Dells.

The Dells area is geologically interesting because the glaciers did something unusual there. For reasons still debated by geologists, glaciers that covered all of Wisconsin went around the Dells area. That left a very different geology compared to the rest of the state. Where we live in Michigan, glaciers dominated the whole state. Our house sits on a glacial moraine where glaciers dumped sand and gravel as they moved south.

In our gravel pits, we find rocks that came from hundreds of miles north of us. When I took my earth science students on field trips to area gravel pits, they found pieces of copper from the upper peninsula and Jasper conglomerate from southern Ontario. There is no exposed bedrock in southern Michigan, only sand, gravel, and clay left by the glaciers. Hundreds of pothole lakes and ponds cover the area, making it home to a variety of wildlife not abundant in Wisconsin. Farming in our area involves fruits and berries that are rare in Wisconsin.

Reading the rocks in Wisconsin Dells tells us a whole different story with exposed sedimentary bedrock and very little sand and gravel. The area’s rivers are very different, with large pillars and buttes that were spared by the glacial ice, and very few ponds. The whole ecological area of the Dells differs from the surrounding part of the state, and the varied ecology provides different natural resources. For example, the grasses that grow in a place like the Dells provide grains not as easily grown in glaciated areas.

Reading the rocks in Wisconsin Dells tells us that God has provided radically different ecological systems for our benefit. If all areas of the planet were the same, that would limit the available resources. The wisdom of having multiple agents to prepare different soils, different amounts of water, and different mixing of minerals reminds us of the message of Proverbs 8:22-31. That passage personifies Wisdom as being there when God created all these things. Learning to read Earth’s geological history shows us the methods God used to prepare this planet for human habitation. How blessed we are to travel and see places like Wisconsin Dells and learn of God’s wisdom, love, power, and patience in all He does.