Life in the Balance – And why Earth-like planets may be rare

Archdiocese of Washington ^ | March 30, 2012 | Msgr. Charles Pope

[NYer]

The video below is a very creative representation of what the day and night sky on Earth would look like if the earth had rings like Saturn. It is well worth a view.

But it puts me in the mind of pondering the delicate balance of life on this earth and, though the artwork in the video is beautiful, I suspect that the presence of rings would dramatically alter life on this earth, perhaps even annihilate it.

By way of disclaimer, let me say I am not a geologist or astronomer. But a number of things concern me about the presence of rings and then cause me, as a Christian and amateur theologian, to once again thank God for the incredible and rare conditions he maintains on this earth, so that we can live. Let me explain.

Rare Earth?? While most people, including most scientists, presume that there may be billions of inhabitable planets out there a lot like earth, there is another theory base (called “rare earth theory”) that is dubious of such a high number.

There are not just a few things that come together to support life on earth, there are many. Here are just a few:

1. The earth is at just the right distance from the sun so that water is warm enough to melt, but not so hot as to boil and steam away into space. Water is also able in this habitable zone to both evaporate and condense at lower levels in the atmosphere, thus permitting a more even distribution of water, and a cycle of water over dry land known as precipitation.
2. The earth is in a “habitable zone” in the galaxy too. Closer to the center of galaxies, radiation and the presence of wandering planetoids make life there unlikely.
3. We have the nearby presence of two “gas giants” (Jupiter and Saturn) that attract and catch many wandering asteroids and comets and keep them form hitting the earth often.
4. Our molten core and volcanism generate a magnetic field that protects the earth from the most harmful rays of the sun. Volcanism also has a role in helping generate our atmosphere and in cycling rich minerals widely.
5. Our sun is just the right kind of star, putting out a fairly steady amount of energy. Other types of stars are more variable in their output and this variance can utterly destroy life or cause it to be impossible due to the extremes caused.
6. The earth’s fairly rapid rotation reduces the daily variation in temperature It also makes photosynthesis viable since there is enough sunlight all over the planet.
7. The earth’s axis tilt relative to it orbital plane is also just right to allow seasonal variations that help complex life but not so tilted as to make the seasons too extreme.
8. The moon also has a good effect by causing tides that are just enough to permit tidal zones (a great breading ground for diverse life) and not too severe so as to destroy life by extreme tides.

So life here is in the balance of many fascinating things (and a lot more I don’t have time to mention). Just Google “Rare Earth Theory” to read more.

Now, what would rings do to this balance? I suspect a lot of damaging things. Three particularly come to mind.

1. Interference with the tides might be significant since I suspect that the gravitational effect of the rings (rings, though they look like thin wafers, are really bands of rocks in fairly close orbit around a planet) would likely pull the ocean water over the area nearest where they orbit. This in turn would likely cause a loss in the ebb and flow of tides in areas further from them, limiting the benefit of the tides in many areas. Many estuaries would likely not exist. Estuaries are wonderful areas where salt and fresh water mix and a variety of life sets up.
2. I also suspect that, due to gravitational effects on the sea, many sea currents would be interfered with. This too would effect weather and limit the even distribution of heat and cold on the planet, so wonderfully done now by weather and sea currents.
3. I wonder too if the rings might not interfere with the magnetic field around the earth. This would be more the case if a lot of the rocks that made up the rings were of a significant metallic makeup. Without the proper magnetic field, we all cook. Bye Bye life.
4. Finally, it seems certain that rocks from the ring would frequently fall out of orbit, to earth. If large enough, these falling rocks could cause extinction level events. Bye Bye life.

So, enjoy the video of the pretty rings and THANK GOD we don’t have them!

Life on this earth may be a far more rare and miraculous reality than we think. The more I learn of life, the more amazed I become at what the Lord has done. If science has done anything for me, (and it has done a lot), it has surely increased my wonder and awe for God. God has done a marvelous thing in creating this universe and an even more marvelous thing in creating and sustaining this earth. An old hymn says:

O tell of God’s might, O sing of His grace,
Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space,
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

The earth with its store of wonders untold,
Almighty, Thy power hath founded of old;
Established it fast by a changeless decree,
And round it hath cast, like a mantle, the sea.

Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

Praise the Lord for Planet earth, and behold, life is in the balance, the perfect balance.

Watch Video

[NYer]

Another gem from Msgr. Pope, ping!

[cripplecreek]

There are definitely a lot of variables that have to be taken into account but its looking increasingly likely that God created trillions of planets in the universe.

That said the article does a pretty good job of pointing out the things that are problematic for human life on other planets.

[BushCountry]

Recent excerpt:

In an announcement with massive consequences for the human race, astronomers say there are “probably about one hundred” planets within just 30 light-years of our solar system which could support life along Earthly lines. By their calculations, there are tens of billions of such worlds in our galaxy, suggesting that even if life is very rare it is bound to have arisen elsewhere.

[Verginius Rufus]

Even if life has arisen on many other planets, the chances that chocolate has evolved on them is extremely slight.

[redgolum]

Funny thing is I once read a book suggest the Earth did have a smallbset of rings at one time, and how that made life a lot easier.

[moose07]

Very nice video.
The stories from the ancients ,to explain that, would be interesting to hear.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Given the fact that there are at least a hundred billion galaxies in the universe, and that each galaxy has at least a hundred billion stars, I have no doubt that there are millions or billions of planets in the universe that support life, but it’s irrelevant because they would be millions of light years away.

[onedoug]

Thanks for that NYer.

Guillermo Gonzalez & Jay W Richards, “The Privileged Planet: How Our Place In The Cosmos Is Designed For Discovery”

[Psycho_Bunny]

This is a subject with so many variables the human mind simply can’t draw any logical conclusions.

[papertyger]

Just google “michael crichton” + “drake equation” for a real eye-opener on the true value of the astronomer’s “calculations” in this areas.

My contempt for these people and their duplicity only grows with each data point.

[papertyger]

Given the fact that there are at least a hundred billion galaxies in the universe, and that each galaxy has at least a hundred billion stars, I have no doubt that there are millions or billions of planets in the universe that support life,

Given that there are at least a hundred billion inclines in the universe, and that each incline has to have something at the top as well as something at the bottom, I have no doubt that there are millions or billions of inclines in the universe where water can defy gravity and flow uphill.....

[mikrofon]

Q: Why doesn't Earth have a ring?

A: Because it's a single parent.

[SunkenCiv]

This is just a shill piece for global warming caused by human activity, but thanks moose07 for the ping.

[papertyger]

This is a subject with so many variables the human mind simply can’t draw any logical conclusions.

Nonsense. There are no combination of variables that make a lottery easier to win.

[the invisib1e hand]

of course they're rare. and the earth's balance is hairline fragile.

I once did (and since forgot) some calculations the long and short of which is that the most miniscule variation in the earth's diameter would render the whole planet an ice cap or a desert.

[CatherineofAragon]

Thank you for posting this. I once saw a teaching by Frank Turek on the same subject, and the reality of how finely God tuned His creation-—so that we can exist-—is pretty breathtaking.

http://www.crossexamined.org/blog/?m=20120321

[AlexW]

“I have no doubt that there are millions or billions of planets in the universe that support life, but it’s irrelevant because they would be millions of light years away.”
_______________________________________________________

I agree, and I am a strong denier that ET is, or ever has been zipping around Earth.
All of the anecdotal “sightings” in the world mean nothing, despite what one hears on Kook to Kook AM.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Given the fact that there are at least a hundred billion galaxies in the universe, and that each galaxy has at least a hundred billion stars, I have no doubt that there are millions or billions of planets in the universe that support life,

Given that there are at least a hundred billion inclines in the universe, and that each incline has to have something at the top as well as something at the bottom, I have no doubt that there are millions or billions of inclines in the universe where water can defy gravity and flow uphill.....

The statement you responded to draws it's conclusion from the fact that there is at least one star in this galaxy with a planet that supports life. The statement you make draws it's conclusion from...what? Why do you think this is analogous to the first statement or that it refutes the first statement?

[Dilbert San Diego]

But on Star Trek, there are numerous Class M planets throughout the galaxy.

There is a formula or equation they used, which predicted how many there were.

Well, they visited such planets almost every week on that show.

(sarcasm)