Learn something new and interesting every week

I don’t know about you…but for me that’s quite humbling.

Of course earth is a bit older than us. I knew that…but damn, I didn’t know that much older.

Well, we’ll dive into the history of earth a bit.

What has happened all that time before us?  Do we even know?

A lot of questions…Let’s get those answers!

I will break things down into Chapters to give us an easy timeline.

Chapter 1: The Fiery Beginning (4.6 – 4 billion years ago)

Earth was born from a swirling cloud of gas and dust. The whole planet was very hot due to energy from its creation and constant asteroid impacts.

Vulcanos were very active and the whole planet was covered in oceans of lava. The atmosphere was full of carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor. Not very lively.

Chapter 2: Life Sparks in the Oceans (4 – 3 billion years ago)

Earth began to cool down. The first oceans formed. Water came mainly from the water vapor of the volcanos. A minority came from Asteroids or Comets which hit earth and carried ice.

The first simple single-celled organisms appeared in the oceans. Cyanobacteria were the original innovators. They began photosynthesis, producing oxygen and changing everything.

Chapter 3: The Oxygen Revolution (2.5 – 1.5 billion years ago)

The earth’s atmosphere transformed, thanks to photosynthesis. Many organisms that couldn’t handle oxygen died off. They made room for more complex life.

Chapter 4: The Rise of Complex Life (1 billion – 541 million years ago)

Multicellular life emerged. Some early organisms resembled modern sponges. And the earth might have been entirely frozen for 10-50 million years. Yes, entirely!

I say “might have been” because there is not 100% consensus among scientists. But since there is strong evidence the majority agrees on this theory.

Chapter 5: The Cambrian Explosion (541 – 485 million years ago)

Nature’s creativity went wild. It gave rise to almost every major group of animals we know today. Hard shells, eyes, and jaws appeared, this made life more diverse but also competitive. Lots of fighting. Cool.

Chapter 6: Colonizing the Land (500 – 250 million years ago)

Life left the ocean and for the first time stepped on land. Plants were the first pioneers to spread. 50 million years later came insects, amphibians, and reptiles. Also the first supercontinent was formed, Pangaea.

Chapter 7: The Reign of Dinosaurs (250 – 66 million years ago)

Reptiles dominated earth. Dinosaurs were shaped through a long evolutionary process. They then occupied earth for around 160 million years. Early mammals and birds emerged.

Well, from my childhood books I know how that ended. An asteroid impacted 66 million years ago, causing a mass extinction.

Ha, good for us. We would have not stood a chance…

Chapter 8: Mammals Take Over (66 – 2 million years ago)

With the dinosaurs gone, mammals seized their chance and took over the planet. Early primates evolved, setting the stage for humanity.

And the continents began to shift into their modern positions.

Chapter 9: Humankind’s Dawn (2 million years ago – present)

Around 300,000 years ago, homo sapiens emerged in Africa. 200,000 – 150,000 years ago, small groups began moving out of Africa, following coastlines and rivers. This marked the beginning of modern humanity.

tada and here we are.

Pretty wild heh? In this summary we were talking about millions of years like it’s nothing.

Just try to imagine that. 1 million years. To me that’s crazy. I can’t even imagine it.