Earth is capable of supporting life, unlike many other planets because (1 point)
Responses
Earth's atmosphere help maintain the conditions necessary to sustain life.
Earth's atmosphere help maintain the conditions necessary to sustain life.
Earth is located inside the asteroid belt.
Earth is located inside the asteroid belt.
Earth has a gaseous atmosphere for only a part of the year.
Earth has a gaseous atmosphere for only a part of the year.
Earth is a terrestrial body.
Earth's atmosphere helps maintain the conditions necessary to sustain life.
Earth's atmosphere helps maintain the conditions necessary to sustain life.
The correct answer is: Earth's atmosphere helps maintain the conditions necessary to sustain life.
To arrive at this answer, we can consider the following information:
1. Earth's atmosphere: Earth has a thick atmosphere composed primarily of nitrogen (about 78%) and oxygen (about 21%), with smaller amounts of other gases like carbon dioxide, water vapor, and trace elements. This atmosphere is crucial for supporting life as we know it.
2. Maintaining conditions necessary for life: Earth's atmosphere plays several important roles in maintaining the conditions necessary for life. It acts as a protective shield, blocking harmful solar radiation and preventing it from reaching the surface. The atmosphere also helps regulate temperature by trapping heat, creating a stable climate. Additionally, the atmosphere enables the greenhouse effect, which warms the planet and supports the existence of liquid water, a key ingredient for life.
3. Comparison to other planets: Many other planets in our solar system lack a thick atmosphere or have atmospheres composed mainly of gases like hydrogen and helium, which are not conducive to supporting life as we know it. For example, Venus has a thick atmosphere, but it is mostly composed of carbon dioxide, creating a runaway greenhouse effect that leads to extreme temperatures and an inhospitable environment. Mars, on the other hand, has a thin atmosphere primarily composed of carbon dioxide, which makes it very cold and dry.
Therefore, Earth's ability to support life can be attributed to its favorable atmosphere, which helps create and maintain the conditions necessary for life to thrive.