17.1
The Earth, Corpus and home
 
  A central truth that all readers will agree is that the planet Earth is our home. Nestled in a star system we call The SOLAR SYSTEM, the planet Earth travels is a unique gem of liquid molecular oceans of water and abundant hydro-carbon life, compared to the desolate and barren rocks and gas storms that are the remaining major planets of our Solar System.  
  For what we call the Homo Sapiens species today, it is our first home. Where we were born as a species and where our history until now has largely been experienced.  
  A planet some 12,756 km in diameter, spinning on an axis varying between 22 degrees and 24 degrees in cycles of 26, 000 years. A planet with an average gravity of 9.8m sec per sec, with the frozen water polar regions being slightly higher in gravity compared to the warmer tropical liquid equatorial regions.  
  A planet born some 4.8 billion years ago in the storm of intense energis and kinesis that was the birth of our Solar System.  
  A planet where several billion human beings, twenty billion animals, three trillion insects, and trillions upon trillions of bacteria cells all call Earth home.  
  A planet photographed from space, investigated underwater and traversed by countless explorers and adventurers that today we feel confident in our understanding of its workings and nature.  
17.1.1 A planet that still holds mystery  
  Yet for the blaze of discoveries seemingly encouraging the feeling that we know all there is to know about our home planet, the Earth still holds many mysteries.  
  Science is yet to devise a clear answer that can be proven as to exactly what the core of our planet is made of. Hundreds of years ago, some people sincerely believed that the centre of the Earth was made of Gold. Several hundred years earlier, the leaders of the major religions managed to hold the belief of the majority that the earth was "flat."  
  The precise nature and prediction of weather remains as hazardous profession, as any professional weather person would attest. Rarely does a week go by when our daily reports of weather proves to be completely the opposite of what happens.  
  And on those occasions when we get it badly wrong, massive storms can and do create terrible damage and loss of life, such as cyclones (hurricanes), ice storms, twisters, tsunami(tidal waves) and electrical/hail storms.  
  Then there is the prediction of future earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. With nearly 400 million people living in cities and regions that have been volcanically active for the past thousand years and longer, the prediction of earthquakes is a matter of high importance.  
17.1.2 The understanding of the Earth  
  The purpose of this section on the Earth is not simply to provide a range of statistics on the highest peaks, longest rivers and what a cloud is made of; it is to seek a greater understanding of the Earth in parts because we understand the Earth as a whole.  
  Like all other chapters of UCA, this chapter will provide insights that may differ from contemporary view. Similarly, there will be sections that contradict existing orthodoxy on the evolution and history of the Earth. However, the model UCA is able to not only explain why these differences exist, but to ensure all that is discussed regarding the planet Earth is consistent with every other component of the model UCA.  
17.1.3 THE CORPUS- The Earth our living mother  
  One of the oldest and most important beliefs of the indigenous nomadic/semi-nomadic human cultures of the planet Earth is the belief that the Earth is God of its own and that its equates to our mother- the sustainer of our food, our safety from the elements, the provider of good seasons and good times.  
  In reality, the good weather provided by the Earth's seasonal atmosphere and moving liquid molecular oceans determines whether parts of the Earth are in feast or famine. While most of the human beings reading this book live in cities, the majority of human beings still earn their living from the land in some way.  
  Further, we now see that the ancients were true in considering the wider Earth as a living organism, through the concept of THE CORPUS- the universe of living cells that inhabit the surface of the planet.  
17.1.4 The opposite view of the Western mind  
  Western religious and philosophical culture over the past two thousand years places has in large part been opposite to this view. The most highly regarded Christian philosophy places the Earth within the context of a "Great Chain of Being", where God is supreme, followed by those of the Christian Deity, the saints and angels, followed by human, followed by animals, the Earth, the moon, stars and the Sun.  
  With this mind set, the Western mind for the past two thousand years has largely seen all that is the Earth their for the taking and harnessing, usually for personal gain. Until the 20th Century, less than 0.000000000001% of the planet's surface was considered sacred from destruction for industrial purposes.  
  Countless species, countless trees and streams and natural rainforests have been destroyed in the name of industry and progress.  
  Perversely, today with around 0.001% of the world's surface considered sacred from destruction by Western thinking governments, the rate of destruction of natural habitat has never been higher.  
  Literally hundreds of acres of irreplaceable wilderness is being destroyed every hour around the world by corporations in the name of profit.  
17.1.5 The changing attitude  
  Ever so slowly, a change is occurring in the general attitude to the Earth and our relationship to it. Countries are realizing that the avoidance of dealing with modern chemical waste results in escalating social health problems. The destruction of ecosystems unleashes a whole host of unknowns and dangers. That a value can finally be place on a section of still untouched wilderness.  
  Even the peak Christian church, the Catholic Church of Rome has for the first time in its 200 year history modified its previous doctrine and introduced the notion of respecting the Earth and conservation as a virtue. It still however, does not define the Earth as possessing any singular intelligence.  
17.1.6 The Earth a complete organism  
  In this chapter, we propose to not only validate the most ancient of human beliefs that the Earth is sacred and a living deity, but to seek to understanding the Earth's physical function as a living organism. We also get to see the history of the evolution of the planet's CORPUS as a singular organism.  
  Just as would conceive and view another living breathing animal, the Earth, like our Solar System and Galaxy has specialized and co dependent moving parts. Like a living organism, it has systems and structures that act as a skin, as a food source, as a circulatory system.  
     
 
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