Earth and Life : A History of Four Billion Years

Telling the story of the four-billion-year history of Earth and life, this book attempts to answer some of our most fundamental questions: how did our Earth come to be?How did the Earth's oceans, atmosphere, and climate form?How did life begin?Following the timeline of our planet, Earth and Life takes us from the creation of planet Earth to fluctuating global environments, from floods of lava and giant meteorites to great oceans and verdant landscapes.It takes us from the first life on our planet, to the evolution of various species, including the first humans, and explains how life has always changed the climate and environment on Earth. Life originated as tiny microbes from the ocean depths, formed mysterious reefs, then the first algae, marine animals, and, finally, plants and vertebrates that invaded the continents.The vast oceans eventually started to separate, as plate tectonics built up, and broke supercontinents in an ever changing geography.Roughly two billion years ago, marin