Seeing God’s Ingenuity in Earth’s Design

By Carla Estell 2020

When thinking of earth’s design, much has been said of earth’s location in the solar system, the size and temperature of the sun, and the size and distance of the moon. Earth’s size and gravitation, atmospheric makeup and magnetic field have also been used as examples of God’s design.  But, the placement and size of the continents also show the forethought and ingenuity of God as He reformed earth to be man’s post-flood habitation. Continental placement is the result of design not random natural movements of earth’s crust.

Notice on the map how the separation between South America and Antarctica and between Asia and North America allows for the global circulation of water. Cold water is not trapped in the Arctic Circle. Yet, because there is no separation between North and South America, the warm equatorial ocean current is forced to redirect towards the Polar Regions.  The majority of the equatorial current is redirected north by the Brazilian wedge shaped coast. It continues to be warmed as it flows along Central America and through the Gulf of Mexico.  The warm water is then carried all the way to England and circulated around the Arctic Ocean. The earth’s rotation empowers the equatorial currents which then circulate all the ocean waters enabling the regulation of earth’s temperatures, dispersing of nutrients, and the cleansing of the shorelines. It would appear that the shape and position of each land mass is perfectly placed in order to enhance the circulation of earth’s water.   The Heavens declare the glory of God and so does the earth’s design.

After the Flood God told Noah that there would be seasons for planting and harvest that summer and winter would not cease.  Earth’s seasons are caused by the 23 degree axial tilt.  If earth’s axis was not tilted, the entire world would have 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night every 24 hours making some nice fall like temperatures year round.  But with the tilt, each polar region experiences 6 months of complete darkness making a cold, harsh winter followed by 6 months of midnight sun.   However, due to earth’s elliptical orbit, the Southern Hemisphere’s winter is even colder because the earth is farther away from the sun.  But, there is more, the earth’s distance from the sun affects its orbital speed, meaning the earth travels slower when farther away from the sun.  So the winter is not only colder, it is also 5 days longer.  No wonder only penguins live on Antarctica.

But, water acts as an insulator holding summer’s heat, and 80% of the Southern Hemisphere is ocean leaving only 20% land, most of which is the frozen continent of Antarctica. So yes it has frigid winters, but at least God gave it a watery blanket.   Meanwhile 68% of earth’s land mass, home to 90% of earth’s population, is in the Northern Hemisphere where earth is closer to the sun during winter and farther from the sun during summer so the seasonal extremes are not as drastic and summers are longer.  God truly designed the earth to be man’s habitation.