Full History of Earth in 10 Minutes

It can be very difficult today for a person to imagine that life on our planet was once different than it is now. Of course, you can imagine yourself as a medieval knight, or even a viking, thanks to historical films, TV shows, and a bit from school textbooks. But what about the time when there were no people on Earth at all? Or were there once distant ancestors of humans who lived so far in the past that they aren't even remembered by Hollywood? Well, while scientists have not yet invented a time machine, I suggest you take a look at the history of our planet with your own eyes. To begin with, let's go back to the past. 4,600,000,000 years ago, our Earth didn't exist yet. There was only a newly formed proto-sun and a ring of gas and dust. An incredibly beautiful sight. But we're interested in something a little different. Fast forward time a little bit ahead. 4,540,000,000 years ago, our planet was formed. Back then, it was about as far from inhabitable as possible. The conditions on Earth were really hellish. Instead of the usual landscapes, there was a sea of fire from molten rock. There were radioactive elements all around. And the surface temperature reached 4,700 degrees Celsius. That's about 8,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Instead of air, there was carbon dioxide, nitrogen, sulfur, and water vapor. Instead of solid land, magmatic oceans. Add to that the constant bombardment from large asteroids, and you get a picture that's more like the end of the Earth than its beginning. After several million years, as the result of a collision with a young planet called Theia, the moon was gradually formed. One day back then lasted about six hours. With such a short day, having time for anything would be simply impossible. It's good that the workday didn't exist yet. From about 4,100,000,000 years ago to 3,800,000,000 years ago, the late heavy bombardment hit the Earth. A huge number of asteroids. Some scientists suggest that at this time, there were already oceans on Earth, despite its high temperature. Honestly, I barely believe it. But who am I to argue with scientists? It was the asteroids that helped the planet gradually become covered with water. According to one theory, the asteroids carried with them a tiny amount of life-giving moisture and delivered it to Earth. That's how, over billions of years, about half of the water of the world ocean came to Earth from space. After the bombing ended, that is about 3,800,000,000 years ago, the temperature of the Earth began to slowly decline. But current lifeforms couldn't survive on the planet's surface anyway because there was no oxygen in its atmosphere and there was no ozone layer to block ultraviolet radiation. However, there are fossils which are about 3,500,000,000 years old, which means that life on Earth could have arisen much earlier than we used to think. From 3,200,000,000 to 2,800,000,000 years ago, almost the entire surface of the planet was occupied by a shallow ocean, the temperature of which ranged from 55 to 88 degrees Celsius, that's 131 to 190 Fahrenheit. However, microorganisms were already inhabiting this hot water. The land was only volcanic islands which were slowly growing over time. Just imagine how hot it was! The days began to lengthen, and about 2,500,000,000 years ago, the first supercontinent, Kennerland, began to form. So let's fast forward a little. 1,500,000,000 years ago. Earth days now lasted at least 16 hours, though complex organisms still didn't exist. But lithospheric plates continued moving, and after 400,000,000 years created another supercontinent, Rodinia, and after some time, Pangea. About 650,000,000 years ago, according to popular theory, our planet was a snowball. Literally. This theory is called Snowball Earth. Scientists assumed that everything was completely covered with ice, and even the equator was as cold as modern Antarctica. It's scary to even think what the temperature was at the poles at this time. But even under a thick layer of ice, the planet maintained a fairly high temperature. No ice age can kill volcanoes, and the carbon dioxide from their eruptions, which accumulated in the atmosphere, gradually melted the glaciers. This melting released a huge amount of oxygen, which forever changed the planet. About 541,000,000 years ago, the Cambrian Explosion occurred. Temperatures rising to 30 degrees Celsius, or 86 Fahrenheit, and a record concentration of oxygen, caused a huge number of living organisms to emerge. The biological diversity was so impressive that some creatures even developed exoskeletons to protect themselves from being eaten by others. Researchers believe that almost all of the existing types of animals appeared during this period. The length of the day now reached 22 hours. 450,000,000 years ago, plants and arthropods began to actively conquer the land. 419,000,000 years ago, the first insects appeared. About 300,000,000 years ago, most of our planet was occupied by swamps. Many scientists, such as Professor Frederick Rich, hold this view. But the swamps of antiquity were not like modern ones. Some plants reached 30 meters in height, that's about 100 feet. And giant insects flew everywhere. This was thanks to the high oxygen concentration. Be glad that our modern dragonfly's huge ancestors didn't survive to this day. Seriously, that wouldn't be the most pleasant replacement for pigeons. 252,000,000 years ago, the Permian-Triassic extinction event took place, destroying 96% of marine species Most likely, numerous eruptions became the cause of extinction. The air was filled with ash and carbon dioxide. There was little sunlight. Plus, lava was flowing everywhere. Anyone could die in this environment. Dinosaurs then arrived to replace the destroyed species. But not only did huge dinosaurs divide the planet among themselves, the continents also moved. About 175,000,000 years ago, Pangaea began breaking up. The Atlantic and other oceans appeared. And the world began taking on its current form that we see today. At this time, you could find the first pine trees, praying mantises and bees. 50,000,000 years ago, the power over the planet was then passed on to mammals. Without dinosaurs, they began feeling freedom, actively spreading around the planet, and evolving with all their might. Meanwhile, the length of the day had reached almost 24 hours. And the temperature stably remained near the 24°C mark. That's about 75°F. About 8 to 4,000,000,000 years ago, according to scientists, an important split occurred. The ancestors of modern apes began separating from our ancestors, each heading down their own evolutionary path. About 4,000,000,000 years ago, the climate on the planet once again changed. Of course, this didn't happen right away. But it was the climate that turned part of the dense forest into the savannah. According to one theory, this is what made our distant ancestors climb down from the trees, stand up straight and start looking for food. They were not the only particular species that began fighting for survival. Many tried to adapt to the changes. But in the end, only humans succeeded to the degree that they went on to invent tools, the wheel and Netflix. 1,400,000,000 years ago, Homo erectus began to colonize Eurasia. 790,000,000 years ago, they already knew how to use fire. What the population of the Earth was exactly during this period is rather difficult to calculate. You know, the population census at that time wasn't very good. And then, about 300,000,000 years ago, Homo sapiens appeared, the reasoning human. They appeared and began to populate the entire Earth so actively that they still can't stop. If about 130,000,000 years ago, the number of our ancestors ranged from between 100,000 to 300,000 individuals, then already 40,000,000 years ago, the expansion of reasoning human beings covered almost the entire planet. Today, the world's population is 7,800,000,000 people and continues to grow. However, the planet is changing along with its people. So who knows what turn of history awaits us in the future? If you liked the video, give it a thumbs up. Don't forget to subscribe to the channel if you haven't already done so. And click on the bell to receive notifications of new interesting videos that are waiting for you ahead. Until next time.