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The History of Earth - How Our Planet Formed - Full Documentary HD | Wisdom Land | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: The History of Earth - How Our Planet Formed - Full Documentary HD
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Summary
Core Theme
This content chronicles the dramatic 4.5-billion-year history of Earth, from its fiery formation and the emergence of life to the rise of complex organisms and the eventual evolution of humans, highlighting the planet's dynamic geological processes and the resilience of life through catastrophic events.
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[Music]
The Earth, as far as we know, it's the
only home to life in the
universe. So, what makes our planet so special?
To find answers, we must travel back in
time. See the first humans walk the
earth. Ride each colliding
dinosaurs. Dive into oceans full of
bizarre life
forms. Feel the bitter chill of global
ice ages and experience the fury of
attacks. By traveling back in time, we
can piece together our planet's
incredible story and discover why all of
[Music]
The journey starts almost 5 billion years
Only the sun, a newborn star surrounded by
But through time, gravity pulls the dust
To our surprise, something as complex as
a planet is made from nothing more than
rocks. Over millions of years, gravity
pulls these rocks together to form the
Earth, one of at least 100 planets
[Music]
But 4 and a half billion years ago,
Earth looks more like hell than home. [Music]
Up close, the temperature is over 2,000°
F. There's no air, just carbon dioxide,
nitrogen, and water
vapor. It's so hot and toxic that if we
got any closer, we'd be incinerated and
This newborn planet is a boiling ball of liquid
lava. A young planet called Thea is
Earth. The size of Mars, it travels
nearly 10
m/s, 20 times faster than a bullet. [Music]
[Music]
The intruder's gravity distorts the
The blast wave races around the
planet. It's as though both young
Trillions of tons of debris blast out into
space. But over the course of a thousand
years, gravity turns the rubble into a
ring of red hot dust and rock that
Earth. From this ring, a balls over
It's the birth of our [Music]
moon, but it's much closer than the moon today.
today.
just 14,000 mi away instead of a quarter
miles. The sun rises over a cooling
The earth is spinning so fast that an
hours. The days may pass quickly, but
the earth changes [Music]
[Music]
slowly. To understand the making of our
planet, we need to fast forward through
3.9 billion years ago, a hail of meteors
attacked the Earth.
It's debris left over from the solar systems
formation. Inside the medas are crystals
salt. And inside the crystals are minute
droplets of water. [Applause]
These deadly missiles could contain the
Only a small amount of water exists
inside each meteorite. But as they
bombard the Earth for over 20 million
grow. The Earth's core remains molten,
but its surface has cooled enough to
form a crust.
The air is around [Music]
[Music]
170°. In the future, there's a chance we
could swallow this very
water. Every sip, every puddle, every
drop of water in every ocean is billions
of years old.
And it may have traveled millions of
meteor. The Earth looks more familiar,
place. Winds are faster than the most
destructive hurricanes
today. It's a mega storm whipped up by
the planet's rapid rotation. [Music]
The moon is so close to Earth that its
gravity is overwhelmed, creating huge
tides that race across the planet's surface.
But over time, the moon moves way. The
[Music]
slower. 700 million years after the
planet's birth, life-giving water covers its
surface and scattered throughout are tiny
here? Molten rock bursts through the
ocean. Over time, the lava cools,
In the future, these islands will join
continents. Earth now has water and
land. It's beginning to look like the
planet we call
home. But the atmosphere is still toxic
and the temperature is scorching.
Life here is [Music]
impossible. Since the planet's
Earth. But now, 3.8 billion years ago,
the assault enters a violent new phase.
Something's disturbed the orbits of these
meteorites. In addition to water, the
As they dissolve, the meteorites release
minerals. Carbon and primitive proteins
made of amino acids are transported from
outer space to the bottom of the [Music]
ocean. Thousands of feet below the
shape. Underwater chimneys spewing hot liquid.
Seawater seeps down into the earth
through cracks in the crust, collecting
minerals and gases along the way. This
potent mixture is released back out into
the ocean, building these [Music]
towers. Combined with the minerals and
chemicals from the meteorites, the water
It's impossible to know how or when, but
somehow these chemicals come together to create
create
life. The water is now full of
microscopic organisms. These
single-sellled bacteria are the earliest
forms of life on Earth. [Music]
[Music]
This is a defining moment in the making
[Music]
underway. For hundreds of millions of
years, nothing changes. [Music]
[Music]
The only life is single-sellled [Music]
bacteria. To find more complex life, we
need to fast forward to 3.5 billion years
These look like rocks or even plants
growing out of the [Music]
[Music]
seabed. Each mound is a colony of living
bacteria called a strummatalite. [Music]
These bacteria turn sunlight into food,
a process called
photosynthesis. It uses the power of
sunlight to transform carbon dioxide and
water into glucose, a simple form of sugar.
And this magical
transformation releases a
byproduct, a gas called [Music]
oxygen. Underwater, the strumatalytes
The oxygen then turns traces of iron
into rust which fall to the ocean floor
to form deposits of ironrich rock. It's
this mineral that will one day be used
to build bridges, ships, and skyscrapers.
[Music]
Above the waves, the oxygen transforms the
the
atmosphere. These strumatalytes are
creating the most important element for
life on
Earth. Without them, virtually every
exist. [Music]
Over the next 2 billion years, oxygen
levels continue to rise. And as the
planet spin slows, the days get
3 billion years after the planet's
birth, there's still no complex life, no
humans. But the Earth has something
unlike any other planet in this solar
system. A force with the power to change everything.
1 and a half billion years ago, the
Earth is a beautiful blue ball dotted
with volcanic
islands. Over millions of years, a
mysterious force rearranges these
islands. Hidden beneath the ocean, the
Earth's crust breaks into vast plates.
But even deeper, the Earth's core is so
hot that it generates movement in the
crust. These movements push and pull the
plates around the
globe, carrying the oceans and islands with
with [Music]
[Music]
them. Millions of years race
changing. Over 400 million years, a vast
new superc continent takes shape. It's
called Rodinia. [Music]
In the shallow waters surrounding
Rodinia, strumatalytes work their magic
for more than 2 billion years, pumping
oxygen into the
atmosphere. The temperature is
85° and the days are 18 hours long. [Music]
But this planet looks more like Mars than
Earth. To find life, we must fast
Washington State 750 million years
ago. A force deep inside the planet rips
the crust to
pieces. It's as though the world is breaking
breaking
apart. And there's only one force
powerful enough to do this.
this.
Heat. It escapes from the Earth's molten
core, stretching and weakening the crust.
crust.
Inch by inch, year by year, the great
superc continent is splitting in two. [Music]
[Music] [Applause]
[Music]
The intense geological activity spawns a
mass of
volcanoes. They pump carbon dioxide into
The carbon dioxide mixes with water and
When the continent tore apart, many
rocks were [Music]
exposed. These rocks absorbed the acid
rain, including its carbon dioxide. Vast
quantities of CO2 are absorbed out of
[Music]
Now, there's not enough carbon dioxide
in the air to trap the sun's heat around the
planet. In just a few thousand years,
This frozen wasteland is southern
Australia 650 million years
ago. It's the start of what some
scientists call snowball
Earth. A period they believe to be the
longest, coldest ice age ever to grip
A vast wall of ice looms thousands of feet
unstoppable. The more ice there is, the
more sunlight it reflects away from the
spreads. Nearby is a second ice sheet
just as
high. The two sheets spread away from
the poles toward each other to meet at
Now, an ice sheet up to 10,000 ft thick
planet. Earth first began as a molten
ball of fire. Now it's a frozen ball of [Music]
[Music]
ice. Virtually all the sun's light and
warmth reflects back into [Music]
space. And it seems as though nothing,
not even the sun, can rescue the planet now.
[Music]
650 million years ago, ice intombs the
planet. For 15 million years, the Earth
snowball. But it can't last forever.
Something must release the Earth from
this frozen
prison. And when it does, who knows
whether life has survived beneath the
ice. The surface is frozen, but the core
surface. Volcanoes have been erupting
since the world began to freeze. But up
until now, even their heat and power
ice. Volcanoes pump out billions of tons
of carbon
dioxide. Before the big freeze, the
CO2. But now, with the rocks smothered
in ice, there's nothing to absorb the
atmosphere like a blanket. It traps the
sun's warmth around the planet, allowing
rise. Now, after 15 million years, the
It's thought that during snowball Earth,
the ice pushed the crust down, but now
as it melts, the crust bounces
up creating fissures and weak
volcanoes. The volcanoes release more
carbon dioxide and push the temperature
up even
higher. The melt gathers
momentum and oxygen levels rise.
Through a series of chemical reactions,
the ice has created
oxygen. While the planet was frozen, the
sun's ultraviolet rays reacted with
water molecules in the ice to produce
hydrogen peroxide, a chemical rich in oxygen.
[Music]
Now, as the ice melts, the hydrogen
peroxide breaks down and releases
The earth is waking
600 million years ago, the atmosphere is
[Music]
long. Add all this water and it's the
life. Before Snowball Earth, primitive
bacteria emerged in the oceans.
But surely they couldn't have survived
an ice age 75 times longer than the
entire span of human
history. If something has survived, then
life may be found where it was last
[Music]
Now, 540 million years ago, in an ocean
full of oxygen, those primitive bacteria have
have
evolved. A handful must have clung on
through the big [Music]
[Music]
freeze. There are plants scattered on the
the [Music]
[Music]
seafloor and something else. [Music]
[Music]
What looks like an armored slug takes up
residence. It's called
Rewaxia. A new generation of complex multi-selled
multi-selled
organisms. The Earth enters one of the
most dynamic periods in its history, the Cambrian
Explosion. Increased oxygen levels allow
creatures to grow larger and develop
There are worms,
sponges, and these
trilobyes. Distant relatives of insects,
lobsters, even scorpions. [Music]
Life in the oceans [Music]
[Music]
blossoms from microscopic bacteria to monsters.
[Music]
This is
Anomalaris. Nearly 2 ft
long. It has large
eyes, razor sharp teeth, and grasping limbs.
limbs. [Music]
[Music]
pick. The trilobyte can't ride itself.
Also found in the sea is picaya. Only an
inch and a half long. They may be the
first organism with a [Music]
[Music]
spine. Over millions of years, this
simple structure will evolve into the
expecting to find life in ruins. The
life. Where trilobyes
scavenge, monsters
prowl, and where creatures begin to take
on familiar [Music]
[Music]
forms. Beneath the waves, there are
already tens of thousands of plant and
animal species.
The advance of life seems [Music]
[Music] [Applause]
[Music]
unstoppable. 460 million years ago, the
plates had been moving again.
A new continent now exists,
Gonduana. It's 90° and oxygen levels are
today. The land should be covered with
plants and crawling with
creatures, but there's not much here
sun. It blasts the surface with deadly radiation.
So, the complex life in the ocean
land. But 30 m up, where the rays enter
happening. When oxygen meets the sun's
radiation, it turns into another kind of
This gas forms a blanket around the
radiation. Over 120 million years, the
ozone layer gets thicker and prevents
more and more radiation from reaching
the Earth's
surface. Without this layer, life on
land simply wouldn't
exist. Now, shielded from radiation,
plants. They pump out even more
oxygen. Levels soar. [Music]
375 million years ago, a new species
lives in the water
swimming. It's a strange fish called Tectalic.
It uses its neck to raise itself up. [Music]
[Music] [Applause]
[Applause] [Music]
[Music]
legs, allowing it to move out of the water.
[Music]
This is one of the most important
moments in the making of our
planet. Over 15 million years, creatures
like these
evolve. They grow stronger limbs and
spend more time out of the water where
plant life is exploding.
Until 360 million years ago, their
relatives, called tetropods, make the
land their
home. From tetropods, four-legged
vertebrates evolve into dinosaurs,
birds, mammals, and
There are mosses and ferns everywhere,
tall. A seed is carried by the [Music]
[Music]
wind. Until now, plants reproduced using
spores, single cell particles that need
water. This embryionic plant has its own
food and water
supply. Unlike a spore, this seed can
survive far from water for months, even years.
The humble seed spreads life across the
plant, and each tree and plant pumps out
[Music]
It's an environment very much like today.
The planet has come a long way. From a
lump of burning rock and dust to a blue
There are now fish,
dragonfly. It's called
Megura. This insect is the size of an eagle.
eagle.
What were once legs have evolved into
wings, extending the dragonflyy's
hunting territory over a vast [Music]
[Music]
area. There are also millipedes and
[Music]
These creatures, called arthropods, were
among the first to set foot on land
hundreds of millions of years ago. They
look almost identical to the bugs that
invade our homes today. Except for one
big difference. Like the megaura,
they're monsters.
It's a world full of giants where
millipedes are 6 ft long and scorpions
are the size of [Music]
[Music]
wolves. This is because the oxygen level
is much higher than it is today, which
allows their respiratory systems to be
more efficient, fueling their bodies to
So far, animals have been laying their
water. But a lizard-like creature called
the Hyonamus prefers
land. Its eggs contain all the water and
nutrients that the developing fetus
needs. The babies grow in their own
self-contained pond.
The egg is a major evolutionary
breakthrough, allowing animals to leave
the water behind and conquer [Music]
land. This baby Hilanos leads the advance.
reptile. Inevitably, with life comes death.
death.
Dead plant matter builds up and decays
into dense, soggy
layers. Over hundreds of millions of
years, rocks cover these layers, and
heat from the Earth's core and pressure
from the overlying rocks transform these
coal. Each lump of coal burned today is
made of plants that died 300 million
[Music]
amidst the decay. Hidden from sight,
life is
stirring. Soon, seeds will germinate,
plants will grow, and this wasteland
will live
again. Life seems to have conquered the planet.
planet.
But will it [Music]
last? A herd of creatures graze the Siberian
Siberian
[Music]
Evolution takes a huge leap forward.
Small lizards are now giant
reptiles. These scooteraurs are distant
relatives of turtles. [Music]
If these planteaters look tough, the
mean. Like this
Gorgonopsit, a perfectly engineered
[Music]
The Gorgalopsit's saber teeth wound the scooter.
The predator watches as its prey grows
weak from blood
move, something strange
Enormous pressure builds beneath the
But the lava isn't from one single
volcano. The entire landscape is [Music]
[Music]
erupting. It's a flood basalt eruption.
A massive plume of mantle rises up from
deep inside the earth and pushes molten
rock out through fissures in the earth's [Music]
crust. The lush paradise is now a
lifeless hell. The scooter and the
gorgonopsits are dead.
They're the first casualties in the
greatest mass extinction the world has
[Music]
extinction. On the other side of the
continent Gondana, nothing's changed yet.
It appears to be snowing, but the
70°. It's actually ash, fallout from the
The ash burns and suffocates the
world. Sulfur dioxide from the eruptions
fills the
atmosphere. As it rains, the gas turns
to sulfuric acid and burns everything it falls
on. What was a local
global. The Siberian eruptions increase
the Earth's carbon dioxide levels. The
atmosphere gets
hotter, water
Around the world, life on land is being wiped
wiped
pink. Plants, trilobyes, and predators disappear.
The new hotter atmosphere heated the
oceans and stripped them of
oxygen. Now this pink algae is one of
the few life forms that can survive in
the stagnant
water. The Siberian eruptions transform
the entire planet. Nothing, not even the
deepest ocean floor is beyond their [Music]
reach. Bubbles of methane gas escape
seabed. Methane is a greenhouse gas, at
least 20 times deadlier than carbon dioxide.
dioxide.
Until now, the gas has been frozen. But
as the sea temperature rises, it begins to
[Music]
melt. Released into the atmosphere, this
powerful gas pushes up temperatures even further.
It's now almost
105°, 11° hotter than before the Siberian
eruptions. Creatures that survive the
initial destruction now face a new and deadly
deadly
It's been 500,000 years since the
eruptions first began. And all this
time, the lava's been pouring
out. By now, it covers an area the size
of the United States with a layer of
A few survive by eating anything they
underground. But everything else is
dead. 250 million years ago, the Earth
reverts back to an almost lifeless planet.
planet.
But that's about to change [Music]
again. It's been 50 million years since
virtually all life on Earth was wiped
It's now 200 million years ago and just
one superc continent pangia stretches
pole. After the trauma of the mass
extinction, the planet
heals, temperatures
stabilize, the acid rain neutralizes,
and vegetation
returns. With 95% of all life on Earth
wiped out, the field opens for a new
species to
emerge, one that will dominate the
dinosaurs. These are called
dinosaur the Perian [Music]
[Music]
extinction. At 15 ft tall, their size
[Applause]
The Amosaurus is too big a meal for one
[Music]
The dinosaurs have repopulated the
earth, but no species can tame this
[Music]
The Earth's crust is thinning. It's
releasing lava and shaking with
earthquakes as if being stretched by
force. It's also happening near what
will become North America's eastern seabboard.
The Earth's plates are on the move
again. 190 million years ago, the great
apart. A vast slab of land breaks away,
creating a chasm.
It fills with a new ocean called the
Teethus over what will one day be the Middle
East. Currents push nutrients up into
waters and the nutrients attract fish in
But again, with so much life also comes [Music]
[Music]
death. Dead fish and plankton carpet the ocean
ocean
floor. Over the next 10 million years,
layers of rock will bury and heat the dead
dead
creatures. Ancient fish and plankton
will become oil. [Music]
Every gallon of gas in our
cars, every piece of plastic on the planet, the paint on our walls, the
planet, the paint on our walls, the carpet under our feet, even the soap we
carpet under our feet, even the soap we wash with, almost all originate ated in
wash with, almost all originate ated in this
this [Music]
way. 180 million years ago, the North American plate is still moving away from
American plate is still moving away from the European and Asian plate.
It's shifting about 1 inch each year, the same speed at which our fingernails
grow. But fast forward 35 million years and a new ocean forms as well as new
continents. The United States breaks away from Africa.
The world as we know it takes shape. The chasm between the two
shape. The chasm between the two continents fills, creating the Atlantic
continents fills, creating the Atlantic [Music]
Like before, currents deep beneath the Earth's crust move the plates again.
Earth's crust move the plates again. [Music]
The entire seafloor tears in two and is pushed up into a ridge of mountains and
volcanoes. It grows higher than the Himalayas and longer than the
Himalayas and longer than the Rockies. The water here is
Rockies. The water here is hot as molten lava forces its way out
hot as molten lava forces its way out from deep inside the earth.
As the lava cools, it creates a new range of volcanic mountains and a new
range of volcanic mountains and a new ocean
floor. Pangia breaks apart and our world rearranges again.
[Music] It's this geological activity that makes
It's this geological activity that makes the Earth restless, creative, and
the Earth restless, creative, and unique. And every time the planet
unique. And every time the planet reinvents itself, its inhabitants adapt
reinvents itself, its inhabitants adapt and evolve.
[Music] Like the
ichthyossaurs, their reptile ancestors lived on land. But as the planet
lived on land. But as the planet changed, so did these animals. They grew
changed, so did these animals. They grew fits and moved into the newly formed
fits and moved into the newly formed Atlantic Ocean.
This one is 20 ft long and can travel at a quick 25 m an
hour. It's the ocean's fastest creature and most efficient predator. It rules
and most efficient predator. It rules the oceans for 50 million years.
the oceans for 50 million years. [Music]
pllyiosaur. Longer than a bus and as heavy as a truck, its jaws are eight
heavy as a truck, its jaws are eight times more powerful than a great white
times more powerful than a great white sharks. with teeth 12 in
sharks. with teeth 12 in [Music]
long. The Earth and its inhabitants have changed beyond
changed beyond recognition. This was once solid
recognition. This was once solid ground. Now it's the Atlantic Ocean.
ground. Now it's the Atlantic Ocean. The very spot where Amosaurs grazed and
The very spot where Amosaurs grazed and Dilophoshaurs stalk their
Dilophoshaurs stalk their prey. The dinosaurs world may be
prey. The dinosaurs world may be different, but they're as dominant as
different, but they're as dominant as ever. They appear
ever. They appear [Music]
[Music] invincible. They're one of the planet's
invincible. They're one of the planet's most successful species.
most successful species. They've survived volcanic
They've survived volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and entire
eruptions, earthquakes, and entire continents splitting
continents splitting apart. The dinosaurs have thrived for
apart. The dinosaurs have thrived for 165 million
years. A number of mammals have also survived like this shrewlike animal.
They're prey to the dinosaurs, so they live in trees or underground and venture
live in trees or underground and venture out only at
out only at night. Mammals pose no threat to the
night. Mammals pose no threat to the [Music]
dinosaurs. Nothing on Earth can challenge their dominance.
Earth. A large piece of space rock heads toward Earth.
This asteroid is at least 6 miles across and traveling over 40,000 m an
and traveling over 40,000 m an hour. It's bigger than Mount
hour. It's bigger than Mount [Music]
[Music] [Applause]
[Applause] [Music]
[Music] Everest and heads straight for the Gulf
Everest and heads straight for the Gulf of Mexico.
It travels so fast that its impact would be missed in a blink of an
eye. A split second changes the world forever.
At impact, the asteroid's back edge stands at 35,000 ft.
It strikes with such immense force that it destroys everything it hits.
[Applause] vaporizes, unleashing the energy of
vaporizes, unleashing the energy of millions of nuclear
weapons. Nowhere is safe with debris flying everywhere.
Debris as big as entire city blocks circle the earth.
The blast wave races out from the impact zone like shrapnel from an exploding
zone like shrapnel from an exploding bomb.
Minutes after impact, hundreds of miles from where the asteroid struck, the
from where the asteroid struck, the Earth is under attack.
down. Earthquakes shake the [Music]
But the onslaught has only just begun. The plume of molten rock and dust
begun. The plume of molten rock and dust spreads out and engulfs the
spreads out and engulfs the planet. The entire sky acts like a giant
planet. The entire sky acts like a giant lamp.
Heating the Earth's surface to over 500°, vegetation spontaneously
ignites. Even months after the impact, smoke and ash still block out the sun's
smoke and ash still block out the sun's rays. And with less sunlight, plants die
rays. And with less sunlight, plants die and the animals
starve. 65 million years ago, the impact has blasted, stoned, and burnt the
has blasted, stoned, and burnt the dinosaurs.
over. But the dinosaur's demise brings opportunity for another
opportunity for another [Music]
[Music] species. a
species. a [Music]
[Music] mammal. By living underground, mammals
mammal. By living underground, mammals have avoided the heat and
have avoided the heat and fires. And by eating anything, they
fires. And by eating anything, they thrive while more selective eaters
[Music] die. They are the unlikely inheritors of
die. They are the unlikely inheritors of the dinosaurs crown.
the dinosaurs crown. [Music]
And as one story ends, another begins. With the dinosaurs out of the
begins. With the dinosaurs out of the way, our ancestors may now have a chance
way, our ancestors may now have a chance at life.
The dinosaurs are long dead. The planet is
[Music] peaceful. In this new world, our mammal
peaceful. In this new world, our mammal ancestors are evolving.
ancestors are evolving. [Music]
47 million years ago, this lake in what will one day be Germany is the perfect
will one day be Germany is the perfect place to spot them.
place to spot them. [Music]
[Music] Unlike earlier mammals, its eyes and
Unlike earlier mammals, its eyes and brain are
brain are [Music]
[Music] bigger. This is Darwinius Masel or
bigger. This is Darwinius Masel or Edida.
Edida. She looks nothing like humans, but
She looks nothing like humans, but fossil evidence today indicates that
fossil evidence today indicates that these creatures might evolve into
these creatures might evolve into monkeys, apes, and eventually
humans. Looking back through 47 million years of evolution might reveal one of
years of evolution might reveal one of our earliest known ancestors.
The lake sits on a volcanic crater. It belches out noxious
gas that eventually [Music]
kills. The lake preserves her in its oxygen depleted depths.
One day, when the water is gone and Edah's fossil is
Edah's fossil is [Music]
[Music] found, this primitive primate could help
found, this primitive primate could help piece together the beginning of our own
piece together the beginning of our own story, the story of human life.
We're closer to understanding how everything we've seen from ocean
everything we've seen from ocean bacteria through walking fish and
bacteria through walking fish and subterranean rodents leads to
subterranean rodents leads to us and to understanding how our planet
us and to understanding how our planet was
was [Music]
[Music] made 47 million years ago. The
made 47 million years ago. The atmosphere is much like today.
The temperature is 75° and the day lasts just under 24
75° and the day lasts just under 24 hours. The Earth is now almost identical
hours. The Earth is now almost identical to the planet we call
to the planet we call home. Almost.
home. Almost. [Music]
again. India moves north toward Asia. [Music]
The Indian and Asian plates are locked in a titanic
[Music] struggle and neither play was
winning. As they buckle, the ocean floor contorts upward along a 1500m
line. A vast mountain range rises up over 27,000 ft.
These are the Himalayas. [Music]
and the highest mountain of all, Mount [Music]
Everest. Its summit reaches up into the Earth's jetream, the same altitude where
Earth's jetream, the same altitude where planes fly.
When the snow on the peaks melts, it feeds rivers like the Ganges, Indis,
feeds rivers like the Ganges, Indis, Yellow, and Yangy.
Yellow, and Yangy. [Applause]
[Applause] [Music]
[Music] The Himalayas are like a vast water
The Himalayas are like a vast water tower. One day, their rivers will supply
tower. One day, their rivers will supply water for almost half the world's
water for almost half the world's population.
population. [Music]
[Music] 20 million years ago. This is our
20 million years ago. This is our planet with every continent and every
planet with every continent and every ocean as we know
[Music] it. Except one thing is still
it. Except one thing is still missing, the human
missing, the human [Music]
[Music] race. And for humans to evolve,
race. And for humans to evolve, something needs to
change. Along the African coast, a great rift opens up.
[Music] It stretches nearly 4,000
It stretches nearly 4,000 [Music]
miles with mountains growing along its edge.
This apeike creature may stay in these trees forever, but its world is
changing. The growing mountains act like a wall, prohibiting moisture from the
a wall, prohibiting moisture from the Indian Ocean from passing over the land.
It's getting hotter and drier. The lush rainforest becomes an
drier. The lush rainforest becomes an arid
savannah. The new hotter climate changes the creature's habitat, forcing them to
the creature's habitat, forcing them to search further for
search further for food. Soon they stop dragging their
food. Soon they stop dragging their knuckles like apes and begin to stand
knuckles like apes and begin to stand and walk on two feet.
and walk on two feet. It's the most important step in the
It's the most important step in the human
story. This mountain range could be the reason humans walk on two feet.
The random movement of two plates may have kickstarted a chain of events that
have kickstarted a chain of events that leads to the first
leads to the first [Music]
[Music] humans. A man and child. a scene very
humans. A man and child. a scene very much like today, but it's one and a half
much like today, but it's one and a half million years
million years ago. They are an early species of human
ago. They are an early species of human called Homo
erectus. And these are the first footprints like our
footprints like our [Music]
[Music] own. Civilizations past and present.
own. Civilizations past and present. Everyone that's ever lived. The greatest
Everyone that's ever lived. The greatest inventions, the most brilliant ideas.
inventions, the most brilliant ideas. Human history in all its complexity and
Human history in all its complexity and splendor begins here and now.
splendor begins here and now. [Music]
[Music] [Applause]
[Applause] [Music]
The climate changes again. 70,000 years ago, sea levels
again. 70,000 years ago, sea levels fall and the gap between Africa and
fall and the gap between Africa and Arabia shrinks to just 8
m. The Red Sea is now narrow and shallow enough for a small group to cross out of
enough for a small group to cross out of Africa.
They're another later species of human called Homo
sapiens. Scientists believe that the entire world beyond Africa was populated
entire world beyond Africa was populated from descendants of these 200
individuals. Over time, our ancestors multiply and spread
multiply and spread out to
out to India onto
India onto Asia and into Europe.
But while humans head north, a giant wall of ice travels
wall of ice travels [Music]
[Music] south. Europe 40,000 years
south. Europe 40,000 years ago. Homo sapiens arrive only to find a
ago. Homo sapiens arrive only to find a world that's quickly
world that's quickly changing. It should be the height of
changing. It should be the height of summer, but it's getting colder. The
summer, but it's getting colder. The plants are frostbitten and the rivers
plants are frostbitten and the rivers are
frozen. Natural changes in the Earth's orbit, CO2 levels, and the flow of warm
orbit, CO2 levels, and the flow of warm water around the planet conspired to
water around the planet conspired to lower the Earth's temperature.
lower the Earth's temperature. The Earth and its inhabitants enter an
The Earth and its inhabitants enter an ice
ice age. Glaciers as high as skyscrapers
age. Glaciers as high as skyscrapers creep over the northern hemisphere about
creep over the northern hemisphere about a foot every
a foot every day. Slow and powerful, they sculpt the
day. Slow and powerful, they sculpt the landscape, gouging out great
landscape, gouging out great depressions. The planet will never look
depressions. The planet will never look the same again.
Now, around 20,000 years ago, they grind to a
to a halt. Much of the northern hemisphere is
halt. Much of the northern hemisphere is covered by ice sheets up to 1 and 1/2
covered by ice sheets up to 1 and 1/2 miles
miles [Music]
thick. With trillions of gallons of water locked up as ice, sea levels
water locked up as ice, sea levels [Music]
[Music] fall. A strip of land emerges from the
fall. A strip of land emerges from the ocean between Siberia and Alaska.
ocean between Siberia and Alaska. [Music]
[Music] It's a bridge between two vast
It's a bridge between two vast continents. A gateway that takes humans
continents. A gateway that takes humans from Asia to a new world, the
from Asia to a new world, the Americas. They're the last great
Americas. They're the last great continents to be colonized, the last
continents to be colonized, the last great human
great human migration, and the first Americans.
Now, 14,000 years ago, the changes that triggered the ice age
reverse. As the ice retreats, it reveals a very different northern hemisphere.
a very different northern hemisphere. The huge depressions that the glaciers
The huge depressions that the glaciers create fill with water to become North
create fill with water to become North America's Great
Lakes. 6,000 years ago, the ice retreats back to the poles toward the Arctic and
back to the poles toward the Arctic and Antarctic.
[Music] After a 4 and 12 billionyear journey,
After a 4 and 12 billionyear journey, we're finally
The planet's incredible story helps us understand how and why everything around
understand how and why everything around us is here
us is here [Music]
[Music] today. From the skies
above to water, the essential ingredient for life.
for life. [Music]
[Music] to the ground beneath our
to the ground beneath our [Music]
[Music] feet and finally
feet and finally [Music]
[Music] life. A chain of catastrophes and
life. A chain of catastrophes and coincidences creating a spectacular
coincidences creating a spectacular result.
result. Each triumph and disaster is a step
Each triumph and disaster is a step leading to
over. This journey is only half the story. A lot more is yet to come.
The Earth will live for at least another 4.5 billion
4.5 billion [Music]
years. More wonders, more
wonders, more terrors, and more strange creatures lie
terrors, and more strange creatures lie ahead for our restless and creative
ahead for our restless and creative planet.
The next chapter of Earth's story is still to be written.
still to be written. [Music]
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