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Start Evolution of the Earth (II): Global Catastrophes
15 February 2016

Evolution of the Earth (II): Global Catastrophes

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The history of the Earth has not been a gradual evolution from its birth more than 4,500 million years ago as a fiery incandescent ball, to the present blue planet full of complex and diverse life. In its story there have been violent deviations, which have “reset” the evolution of life on the planet on several occasions.

We go through 4 of these major disasters that threatened Earth. The first was a collision with another planet: the explosion that swept across the earth’s surface; the remnants of which gave birth to the Moon, and whose presence stabilizes the rotation of the Earth and enables stable, life-friendly climate. Also a massive bombardment of meteorites that delayed the cooling of the planet, but also brought key chemical ingredients for life. In an unexpected twist, the delicate chemical balances triggered the largest glaciation of all time, which covered the entire planet in ice for 15 million years.

Find out how a much more habitable Earth was reborn from this real Ice Age thanks to the volcanic activity, the same thing which triggered the great Permian-Triassic extinction, which after an abrupt period of global warming almost wiped out life on Earth in only 10,000 years.

A video by Scienseed for Ventana al conocimiento

@ScienSeed

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