DK - Knowledge Encyclopedia Planet Earth!: Our Exciting World As Youve Never Seen It Before

PLANET

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Senior Edito r Geo rgina Pa lffy Senior Art Editor Ra chael Gra dy Editors Re becca F ry, Binta Jallow , Ashwin K hurana, V icky Rich ards, Rona Ske ne, A nna St reiffer t Limeric k Art Edito rs Sheila Co llins, M ik Gate s, Jim Gre en, Katy Ja keway, Beth Johnsto n, Kit Lane, Lyn ne Moulding , Ste fan P odhorodecki US Edito r Jen nette E lNaggar Jacket D esign Dev elopment Manage r Sophia MT T Jacket D esigners Vid ushi Chaudhry, Sura bhi Wa dhwa G andhi Production Ed itor Ro bert Dunn Production C ontroller Jud e Croz ier Managing Edito r Francesca B aines Managing Art Editor Phi lip Let su Publisher Andrew M acintyre Associate P ublishing Director Liz Wheeler Art Dire ctor Karen S elf Publishing Dire ctor Jonathan Metc alf Contributors Emm a Espley , D r. Pete r Inness , Dr. Anthea Lacc hia, Martin Redfe rn, John Wo odward Consultants Der ek Ha rvey, David Holmes Illustra tors And rew B eckett @ Illust ration L td, A dam B enton, Peter B ull @ Art Studi o, G ary Hann a, Jason Hard ing, Stuart J ackson-Carter SJC Illust ration, J on @ KJA , Arra n Lew is, Simon Mumfo rd, Sof ian Moumene, Claudia Sarace ni @ Art Agency, Simon Te gg First A merican E dition, 2 Published i n the Unite d Sta tes by DK Publishi ng 1745 Bro adway, 20th Floor , New Yo rk, NY 10019 Copyright 2022 Dorling Kindersley Limite d DK, a Division of P enguin Ra ndom House LLC 22 23 24 2 5 26 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 001319142Oct/2022 All rig hts r eserved. Without l imiting t he right s under the copy right re served a bove, no part of this publica tion may be repro duced, st ored i n or intro duced into a ret rieval s ystem, o r tra nsmitted, i n any fo rm, or by any means (electronic, m echanical, p hotocopy ing, re cording, o r oth erwise), without t he prior writte n permiss ion of the copy right ow ner . Published i n Gre at Brita in by Dorling Kinders ley L imited A cata log re cord f or t his bo ok is available f rom t he Libra ry of Congre ss. ISBN 9780744056259 DK books are ava ilable a t specia l disco unts whe n purc hased in bulk fo r sales pro motions, p remiums, f und-raising, o r educa tional use. Fo r deta ils, co ntact: D K Publi shing S pecial M arkets, 1745 Bro adway, 20th Floor , New Yo rk, NY 10019 SpecialSales@dk.com Printed a nd bound in t he UA E FOR THE CURIOUS www.dk.c om This book was made with F or est Stewardship Co uncil certied paper one small step in DK s commitment to a sustainable futur e. For more informat ion go to www.dk .com/our-gr een-pledge Established in 1846, the Smithsonian is the world s largest museum and researc h complex, dedicated to public education, nati onal service, and scholarship in the ar ts, sciences, and history . It includes 21 museums and galleries and the National Zoolgical P ar k. T he total number of artifacts, works of art, and specimens in the Smithsonian s collection is estimated at 155.5 million.

EARTH IN TIME Big Bang Birth of Earth Earth in space Earth and moon Evolving Earth Life sto ry Meteorites Ice ages Inhabited Earth REVEALING EARTH Earths s tructure The crust Tec tonic plates Spreading rifts Colliding continents The inner layers Magnetic Earth Earthquakes and tsunamis Volcano es Ash blanket Stratovol canoes Geysers and ho t springs The rock cycle Minerals Weathering and er osion Living geology The White Cliffs of Iturup Fossils ROCKY EARTH BLUE PLANET PLANET EARTH EARTHS WA TE R The water cy cle Glaciers Cool cavern Rivers Waterfa lls Lakes Caves Ocean wat ers WEAT HER OR CLIMA TE ? Atmospheric circ ulation The causes of climate change Greenhouse gases The effec ts of climate change Weather Clouds Storms Torn adoes Dust storm Floods Forest r es WEAT HER AND CLIMAT E

LIFE ON EARTH EARTHS BIOMES Arctic tundra Chilly climes Forests Temp erate fo rests Tropic al rainfo rests Temp erate gra sslands Tropical grasslands Deserts Wetlands Coastal habitats Diving down The open ocean Ecosystems Threats to habitat s Plants under threat Animal conserva tion CONTINENTS AND OCEA NS North America South America Europe Africa Asia Cascade of pools Australia and Oceania Antarctica The Arctic Countries of the world Glossary Index Acknowledgments EARTHS CONTIN ENTS Scales and sizes The data box f or each animal includes a scale drawing to indicate its size . These are based on the height of an aver age adult human male and the hand and thumb tip shown below . The sizes given in this bo ok are typical maximums . Unless otherwise stated, the siz es given ar e the length of the animal, from the fro nt of the head or tip of the beak, to the re ar of the body or tip of the tail or tenta cles, where the animal has these. Some animals have shapes that mean width is a more useful measur ement than length, so this is given inst ead. 7 in (18 cm) 6 f t (1.8 m ) HUMANS ON EARTH Farming Living with the land Population Sustainable cities Connected world Energy Globalization Industrial zone Coastal living Tour ism Pollution Building the future EARTH AND US

In the so-called G oldilocks zone in our solar sys tem, our home planet has ev olved fr om its dra matic beginnings to the Earth we know today. During its 4.54 billion years, it has survived met eorite impacts, climate changes, and several mass exti nctions, and still spins on.

Dinosaurs Dinosaurs were dominan t for almost 175 million ye ars of the Mesozoic Eran o more than half an hour on this timescalewhile birds (avian dinosaurs) liv ed on! Early animals The rst evidenc e appears of animals probably belonging to groups that ar e around today (sponges and co rals). Humans Our ancestor s were wa lking upright some 4 million years agoonly ar ound 30 seconds on this clock but fu lly modern humans emerged only just over a sec ond befo re 12.