What if planet Earth had rings like planet Saturn?

If the Earth had rings like Saturn, it would look very different and, as a result, life could evolve differently. There would obviously be a huge ring in the sky, but it would also affect the weather, the climate, and even the ecosystems. 

Nobody knows exactly how they could affect our planet, because everything depends on the type of ring, its internal structure and the elements that compose it.

If the earth had rings Like Saturn, they could look like this:


Most rings of Saturn consist of particles containing water, ice and sometimes rocks. Particles would be too small to fall on Earth because they are either microscopic or not big enough to pass into the Earth's atmosphere. It would have a difference in the Earth's atmospheric conditions, but not very big, I guess. 

If the rings are sufficiently gravitational enough to remain integral and balanced, they would float and have a periodic influence on the Earth, simply by existing. 
This is the best scenario, of course, because the rings could create a very different atmosphere on Earth if they were made of something else.

In the meantime, the social and societal implications of this would be immense. Historically, people always looked at the sky with wonder, hoping to one day discover the secrets of the rings of the Earth. 

The psychological effects that the rings of the Earth would have on its inhabitants would encourage them to devote more time to research, especially science and astronomy, but later to geology, biology and all the rest.

 The scientific progress of humanity would increase much more rapidly than in today's world. Religion may have had a much less significant influence on our society, just as scientific research has become the norm for all civilizations.

 Movements like enlightenment could have happened much earlier. As a result, humanity could have progressed much faster than in our current calendar, and we could be much more advanced technologically than today in 2017. 

The rings around our planet would encourage people to explore the world. Unknown, but may also have blocked space exploration, constituting an obstacle for satellites and space stations. Humanity should look for innovative ways to protect our satellites from the ring.

A ring around our planet would also give us a wonderful  view of the sky: