1000 Miles Per Hour

[230 words] The earth rotates on its axis at approximately 1,000 miles per hour. If that had been 100 miles per hour, our days and nights would be 10 times longer, and our planet would alternately bum and freeze. Under such circumstances vegetation could not live. If the earth were as small as the moon, the power of gravity would be too weak to retain sufficient atmosphere for man’s needs; but if it were as large as Jupiter, Saturn, or Uranus, extreme gravitation would make human movement almost impossible. If we were as near to the sun as Venus, the heat would be unbearable; if we were as far away as Mars, we would experience snow and ice every night, even in the warmest regions . If the oceans were half their present dimensions, we would receive only one-fourth the rainfall we do now. If they were one-eighth larger, our…