1 00:00:14,150 --> 00:00:15,280 Earth 2 00:00:16,548 --> 00:00:21,348 As far as we know it's the only home to life in the universe. 3 00:00:22,839 --> 00:00:28,119 Why? What is it that makes our planet so special? 4 00:00:29,339 --> 00:00:32,228 The answers are hidden deep in the earth's past. 5 00:00:34,538 --> 00:00:39,569 To find them we must travel back in time to see the first humans walk the earth. 6 00:00:40,959 --> 00:00:46,869 To ride continents on a collision course, face killer dinosaurs. 7 00:00:50,149 --> 00:00:53,739 Dive into oceans full of bizarre life-forms. 8 00:00:56,500 --> 00:01:00,120 Feel the bitter chill of global ice ages 9 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:07,139 and experience the fury of cosmic missile attacks. 10 00:01:07,779 --> 00:01:13,859 We must travel back in time until we reach the birth of the earth itself. 11 00:01:14,709 --> 00:01:19,259 Then we can piece together our planets incredible story 12 00:01:19,329 --> 00:01:24,810 and discover why all of this all of us are here. 13 00:01:41,780 --> 00:01:45,549 Our journey starts almost 5 billion years ago. 14 00:01:47,559 --> 00:01:49,200 But this can't be right. 15 00:01:49,610 --> 00:01:52,529 There's no sign of our beautiful blue planet. 16 00:01:54,209 --> 00:02:00,869 Just a newborn star, our sun surrounded by all this dust. 17 00:02:03,430 --> 00:02:08,988 We've arrived too early before the earth has even formed. 18 00:02:21,129 --> 00:02:26,459 Speed up time and we can see gravity pull the dust into tiny rocks. 19 00:02:29,149 --> 00:02:34,539 It hardly seems possible but something as complex as a planet 20 00:02:34,619 --> 00:02:38,200 is made from nothing more than dust and rocks. 21 00:02:43,830 --> 00:02:49,209 Over millions of years gravity pulls these rocks together to form the earth. 22 00:02:51,819 --> 00:02:56,159 One of at least a hundred planets circling the sun. 23 00:03:30,739 --> 00:03:37,880 But 4.54 billion years ago our planet looks more like hell than home. 24 00:03:42,810 --> 00:03:46,670 Up close the temperature is over 1'200 degrees Celsius. 25 00:03:49,620 --> 00:03:56,890 There's no air just carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water vapor. 26 00:04:00,100 --> 00:04:04,489 It's so hot, so toxic that if we got any closer 27 00:04:04,549 --> 00:04:08,520 we'd be incinerated and suffocated in seconds. 28 00:04:12,860 --> 00:04:17,030 The newborn planet is a boiling ball of liquid rock. 29 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:22,960 There are virtually no solid surfaces, just an endless ocean of lava. 30 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:42,080 A young planet called Theia is heading straight for us. 31 00:04:45,070 --> 00:04:49,638 It's the size of Mars and it's traveling at nearly 15 kilometers a second. 32 00:04:50,648 --> 00:04:53,079 20 times faster than a bullet. 33 00:05:04,169 --> 00:05:08,289 The intruder's gravity is distorting the earth's surface. 34 00:05:33,269 --> 00:05:37,219 The blast wave races out around the planet. 35 00:05:39,860 --> 00:05:43,788 It's as though both young planets turn to liquid. 36 00:05:45,418 --> 00:05:49,060 Trillions of tons of debris blast out into space. 37 00:06:12,079 --> 00:06:15,350 But over the course of just a thousand years 38 00:06:15,350 --> 00:06:20,840 gravity works its magic and turns the rubble into a ring of red-hot dust 39 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:23,899 and rock that circles the earth. 40 00:06:28,369 --> 00:06:35,360 And now from this ring a ball forms over 3'000 kilometers wide. 41 00:06:42,309 --> 00:06:45,559 We're watching the birth of our moon. 42 00:06:47,630 --> 00:06:50,700 It's much closer than the moon we recognize. 43 00:06:51,300 --> 00:06:54,100 Just 22'000 kilometers away. 44 00:06:54,250 --> 00:06:57,548 Instead of about 400'000 kilometers. 45 00:07:20,060 --> 00:07:23,780 The Sun rises over a cooling earth. 46 00:07:31,130 --> 00:07:35,080 And sets just three hours after it rises. 47 00:07:38,180 --> 00:07:41,180 The impact has set the earth spinning so fast 48 00:07:41,290 --> 00:07:44,659 that an entire day lasts just six hours. 49 00:07:46,359 --> 00:07:50,649 The days may pass quickly but the earth changes slowly. 50 00:07:51,299 --> 00:07:54,179 To understand the making of our planet 51 00:07:54,179 --> 00:07:57,170 we need to fast forward through millions of years. 52 00:08:21,569 --> 00:08:23,879 A hail of meteors. 53 00:08:37,380 --> 00:08:41,770 3.9 billion years ago and we're under attack 54 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,420 from debris leftover from the solar system's formation. 55 00:08:57,310 --> 00:09:00,919 Look at these strange crystals inside the meteors. 56 00:09:00,999 --> 00:09:02,798 They look like grains of salt. 57 00:09:03,428 --> 00:09:06,438 The same salt you pour on your french fries. 58 00:09:06,478 --> 00:09:11,108 And inside these minute droplets of water. 59 00:09:17,940 --> 00:09:20,508 It seems these deadly missiles could contain 60 00:09:20,658 --> 00:09:23,317 the vital ingredient for life on Earth. 61 00:09:37,580 --> 00:09:41,280 There's only a small amount of water inside each meteorite. 62 00:09:41,950 --> 00:09:45,579 But as they bombard the earth for over 20 million years 63 00:09:46,899 --> 00:09:48,908 pools of water grow. 64 00:09:50,299 --> 00:09:53,351 The water collects on solid ground 65 00:09:54,031 --> 00:09:58,550 The earth's core remains molten but its surface is cool 66 00:09:58,550 --> 00:10:01,010 to around 70 or 80 degrees. 67 00:10:01,860 --> 00:10:04,140 Just enough to form a crust. 68 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:08,199 In the future we could swallow this water when we take a drink. 69 00:10:09,999 --> 00:10:14,959 Every sip, every puddle, every drop of water in every ocean 70 00:10:16,139 --> 00:10:18,490 is billions of years old. 71 00:10:20,340 --> 00:10:23,470 And it may have traveled millions of kilometers to reach us 72 00:10:23,470 --> 00:10:25,760 carried inside a meteor. 73 00:10:31,739 --> 00:10:36,869 The earth looks more familiar, but this is still a dangerous place. 74 00:10:41,929 --> 00:10:46,839 This wind is as fast, perhaps faster than the most destructive hurricane. 75 00:10:51,780 --> 00:10:56,179 It's a mega storm ripped up by the planets rapid rotation. 76 00:10:58,069 --> 00:11:02,019 The moon is so close to Earth that its gravity is overwhelming. 77 00:11:02,989 --> 00:11:06,738 It creates huge tides that race across the planet's surface. 78 00:11:37,059 --> 00:11:40,199 But over time the moon moves away. 79 00:11:41,539 --> 00:11:46,060 The waves calm and the planet spins slower. 80 00:11:52,799 --> 00:12:00,648 700 million years after the planet's birth life-giving water covers its surface. 81 00:12:04,620 --> 00:12:06,270 But not just water. 82 00:12:08,290 --> 00:12:10,280 There's something else down there. 83 00:12:11,390 --> 00:12:16,220 Tiny islands they seem to have appeared from nowhere. 84 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:22,099 Until 85 00:12:25,070 --> 00:12:30,210 molten rock bursts through the earth's crust and rises up through the ocean. 86 00:12:32,550 --> 00:12:37,258 Over time the lava cools and forms a volcanic island. 87 00:12:40,229 --> 00:12:42,440 This is how these islands formed. 88 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:48,369 In the future they will join together to form the first continents. 89 00:12:54,068 --> 00:12:57,829 The infant earth has water and land. 90 00:12:58,659 --> 00:13:01,768 It's beginning to look like the planet we call home. 91 00:13:02,488 --> 00:13:08,159 But the atmosphere is toxic and the temperature is scorching. 92 00:13:09,529 --> 00:13:12,019 Nothing could live here. 93 00:13:22,450 --> 00:13:23,430 Meteors. 94 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:26,990 They've been raining down since the planets formation. 95 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:34,060 But now 3.8 billion years ago the assault has entered a violent new phase. 96 00:13:36,709 --> 00:13:40,359 Something has disturbed the orbits of these meteorites. 97 00:13:43,620 --> 00:13:50,239 They already brought water to the planet but they're carrying something else too. 98 00:13:57,599 --> 00:14:01,339 As the meteorites dissolve they release their minerals 99 00:14:01,649 --> 00:14:06,459 and transport carbon and primitive proteins, amino acids 100 00:14:06,990 --> 00:14:10,420 from outer space to the bottom of the ocean. 101 00:14:14,609 --> 00:14:19,799 It's dark, the sun's rays can't reach beyond 300 meters . 102 00:14:20,999 --> 00:14:23,508 And it's close to freezing. 103 00:14:33,949 --> 00:14:36,440 This must be a mirage. 104 00:14:40,910 --> 00:14:43,420 A city of underwater chimneys. 105 00:14:47,230 --> 00:14:51,979 It's not smoke, it's some kind of hot liquid. 106 00:14:54,819 --> 00:14:58,900 Seawater has seeped down into the earth through cracks in the crust. 107 00:14:59,020 --> 00:15:03,010 Getting hotter, collecting minerals and gases on the way. 108 00:15:04,580 --> 00:15:08,168 It's this potent mixture that's spewing back out into the ocean, 109 00:15:09,268 --> 00:15:11,869 building these towers. 110 00:15:14,379 --> 00:15:18,549 Add to this all those minerals and chemicals from the meteorites 111 00:15:18,739 --> 00:15:21,738 and the water has become a chemical soup. 112 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:27,539 It's impossible to know how or when, 113 00:15:27,819 --> 00:15:32,790 but somehow these chemicals have come together to create life . 114 00:15:34,330 --> 00:15:37,730 The water is now full of microscopic organisms. 115 00:15:38,820 --> 00:15:44,219 These single-celled bacteria are the earliest forms of life on Earth. 116 00:15:49,930 --> 00:15:53,500 This is a defining moment in the making of the planet. 117 00:15:56,659 --> 00:15:59,969 Microscopic life is on the way. 118 00:16:03,268 --> 00:16:08,030 To find more complex life we need to travel forwards through time 119 00:16:08,340 --> 00:16:13,658 to 3.5 billion years ago and a shallow ocean. 120 00:16:32,299 --> 00:16:37,099 These look like rocks or even plants. 121 00:16:39,209 --> 00:16:42,299 They seem to grow out of the seabed. 122 00:16:47,759 --> 00:16:50,829 Each is a mountain of living bacteria. 123 00:16:51,579 --> 00:16:54,840 A colony called a stromatolite. 124 00:17:00,911 --> 00:17:06,100 As if by magic these bacteria turns sunlight into food. 125 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:12,869 This process called photosynthesis uses the power of sunlight 126 00:17:12,869 --> 00:17:17,419 to transform carbon dioxide and water into glucose, 127 00:17:18,449 --> 00:17:24,858 a simple form of sugar and similar to the stuff we put in our coffee. 128 00:17:32,399 --> 00:17:40,249 And this magical transformation releases a byproduct, a gas called oxygen. 129 00:17:43,359 --> 00:17:47,989 Underwater the stromatolites slowly fill the oceans with oxygen. 130 00:17:53,259 --> 00:17:57,770 The oxygen turns traces of iron in the water into rust. 131 00:18:01,109 --> 00:18:05,778 This falls to the ocean floor to form deposits of iron rich rock. 132 00:18:07,620 --> 00:18:13,589 One day we'll use this mineral to build bridges, ships and skyscrapers. 133 00:18:27,759 --> 00:18:31,809 Above the waves the oxygen transforms the atmosphere. 134 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:37,011 These stromatolites are creating the single most important element 135 00:18:37,111 --> 00:18:38,900 for life on Earth. 136 00:18:41,070 --> 00:18:44,960 Without them virtually every living thing wouldn't exist. 137 00:18:47,220 --> 00:18:50,100 When we take our next breath we're doing it 138 00:18:50,100 --> 00:18:53,169 thanks to these colonies of ancient bacteria. 139 00:18:57,039 --> 00:19:02,010 Over the next two billion years oxygen levels continue to rise. 140 00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:08,429 And as the planet's spin slows the days get longer. 141 00:19:13,829 --> 00:19:16,530 Now they last at least 16 hours. 142 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,640 We're discovering it takes a long time to make a planet. 143 00:19:21,620 --> 00:19:25,149 1.5 billion years ago, three billion years 144 00:19:25,149 --> 00:19:29,079 after the planets birth and there's no complex life. 145 00:19:29,859 --> 00:19:34,469 No plants, no dinosaurs, no humans. 146 00:19:35,409 --> 00:19:38,870 But the earth has something that no other planet has. 147 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:43,889 A force with the power to change everything. 148 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:55,950 Our planet, a beautiful blue ball dotted with volcanic islands 149 00:19:57,370 --> 00:20:02,150 One and a half billion years ago it's home to primitive life. 150 00:20:08,830 --> 00:20:13,540 Over millions of years we can see something is rearranging the islands. 151 00:20:14,399 --> 00:20:19,420 Hidden beneath the ocean the earth's crust has broken into vast plates. 152 00:20:20,500 --> 00:20:23,979 Deeper still the Earth's core is at work. 153 00:20:24,369 --> 00:20:26,879 It's hotter than the surface of the Sun. 154 00:20:27,559 --> 00:20:32,080 So hot it generates movement in the rock beneath the crust. 155 00:20:33,420 --> 00:20:37,009 These movements push and pull the plates around the globe 156 00:20:37,549 --> 00:20:41,199 and carry the oceans and the islands with them. 157 00:20:42,299 --> 00:20:44,400 Millions of years raced by. 158 00:20:44,790 --> 00:20:51,580 Seeing it like this our planet seems active, changing, alive. 159 00:20:53,340 --> 00:21:00,329 Over 400 million years a vast new super- continent takes shape called Rodinia. 160 00:21:05,069 --> 00:21:09,469 In the shallow waters around Rodinia stromatolites have been working 161 00:21:09,469 --> 00:21:11,949 their magic for over two billion years. 162 00:21:12,070 --> 00:21:14,499 Pumping oxygen into the atmosphere. 163 00:21:15,879 --> 00:21:21,209 The temperature is 30 degrees Celsius and the days are 18 hours long. 164 00:21:33,650 --> 00:21:38,410 But this looks more like Mars than Earth. 165 00:21:39,439 --> 00:21:43,329 To find life here we need to move on through time. 166 00:22:04,459 --> 00:22:06,489 The state of Washington. 167 00:22:08,019 --> 00:22:13,869 715 million years ago some force 168 00:22:13,869 --> 00:22:18,049 from deep inside the planet itself is ripping the crust to pieces. 169 00:22:18,849 --> 00:22:21,650 It's as though the world is tearing apart. 170 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:27,010 And there's only one force powerful enough to do this. 171 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:28,760 Heat. 172 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:31,720 It escapes from the earth's molten core 173 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:36,240 stretching and weakening the crust. 174 00:22:38,049 --> 00:22:42,349 Centimeter by centimeter, year by year 175 00:22:42,349 --> 00:22:46,190 the great supercontinent is splitting in two. 176 00:23:19,819 --> 00:23:24,019 The intense geological activity has spawned a mass of volcanoes. 177 00:23:28,839 --> 00:23:32,199 These pump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. 178 00:23:33,539 --> 00:23:37,030 There's smoke and gas everywhere. 179 00:23:48,980 --> 00:23:53,870 All that carbon dioxide mixes with water to make acid rain. 180 00:23:56,429 --> 00:24:01,280 The rocks absorb the acid rain including its carbon dioxide. 181 00:24:02,420 --> 00:24:05,529 And there are a lot of rocks on the earth right now. 182 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:08,490 Exposed when the continent tore apart. 183 00:24:11,580 --> 00:24:16,100 So many that vast quantities of carbon dioxide are absorbed 184 00:24:16,100 --> 00:24:19,940 out of the atmosphere and locked up in the earth's rocks. 185 00:24:30,050 --> 00:24:33,460 There's not enough carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to trap 186 00:24:33,540 --> 00:24:36,240 the sun's heat around the planet. 187 00:24:40,339 --> 00:24:44,290 In just a few thousand years the temperature plummets 188 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,009 to around minus 50 degrees. 189 00:25:06,309 --> 00:25:09,890 This frozen wasteland is Southern Australia. 190 00:25:11,210 --> 00:25:13,169 650 million years ago. 191 00:25:15,929 --> 00:25:19,849 It's the start of what some scientists call Snowball Earth. 192 00:25:20,939 --> 00:25:24,489 A period they believe to be the longest, coldest ice age 193 00:25:24,489 --> 00:25:26,369 ever to grip the planet. 194 00:25:27,979 --> 00:25:32,039 A vast wall of ice, thousands of meters high. 195 00:25:33,910 --> 00:25:35,889 The ice is unstoppable. 196 00:25:37,599 --> 00:25:41,549 The more ice there is, the more sunlight it reflects away 197 00:25:41,549 --> 00:25:45,288 from the planet and the faster the ice spreads. 198 00:25:47,470 --> 00:25:51,490 And there's a second ice sheet just as high. 199 00:25:52,329 --> 00:25:56,129 The two sheets spread away from the poles towards each other 200 00:25:56,559 --> 00:25:59,289 to meet at the equator. 201 00:26:22,929 --> 00:26:25,810 Now an ice sheet up to three kilometers thick 202 00:26:26,910 --> 00:26:29,340 untunes the entire planet. 203 00:26:33,179 --> 00:26:35,950 First the planet was a molten ball of fire 204 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:40,049 now it's a frozen ball of ice. 205 00:26:43,869 --> 00:26:49,238 Virtually all the sun's light and warmth reflects back into space. 206 00:26:55,397 --> 00:26:57,579 But it can't last forever. 207 00:26:57,739 --> 00:27:01,290 Something must release the earth from this frozen prison 208 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:04,019 and when it does who knows 209 00:27:04,019 --> 00:27:05,919 whether life will have survived beneath the ice. 210 00:27:07,969 --> 00:27:11,398 The surface is frozen but the core is still hotter 211 00:27:11,398 --> 00:27:13,669 than the sun's surface. 212 00:27:20,339 --> 00:27:23,859 Volcanoes have been erupting since the world began to freeze. 213 00:27:24,929 --> 00:27:27,479 But up until now even their heat and power 214 00:27:27,479 --> 00:27:29,719 made no impact on the ice. 215 00:27:35,140 --> 00:27:39,239 Volcanoes pump out billions of tons of carbon dioxide 216 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:45,120 before the big freeze the Earth's rocks absorb most of the co2 217 00:27:47,230 --> 00:27:50,089 But now with the rocks smothered in ice 218 00:27:50,699 --> 00:27:55,639 there's nothing to absorb the gas so it fills the atmosphere. 219 00:28:04,309 --> 00:28:08,219 Like a blanket it traps the sun's warmth around the planet. 220 00:28:09,979 --> 00:28:16,770 Temperatures rise until now after 15 million years the ice begins to melt. 221 00:28:43,170 --> 00:28:48,068 It's thought that during Snowball Earth the ice pushed the crust down. 222 00:28:48,528 --> 00:28:52,309 Now as it melts the crust bounces up. 223 00:28:53,490 --> 00:28:58,390 This creates fissures and weak spots and more and more volcanoes. 224 00:29:03,230 --> 00:29:06,220 These volcanoes release more carbon dioxide 225 00:29:06,220 --> 00:29:09,220 and push the temperature up even higher. 226 00:29:10,420 --> 00:29:13,920 The melt gathers momentum. 227 00:29:15,609 --> 00:29:17,460 Oxygen levels rocket. 228 00:29:20,620 --> 00:29:25,660 Through a series of chemical reactions the ice has created oxygen. 229 00:29:29,099 --> 00:29:33,470 While the planet was frozen the sun's ultraviolet rays reacted 230 00:29:33,470 --> 00:29:38,658 with water molecules in the ice to produce a chemical rich in oxygen. 231 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:44,299 Hydrogen peroxide the same chemical that bleaches head. 232 00:29:50,420 --> 00:29:56,360 Now as the ice melts the hydrogen peroxide breaks down and releases 233 00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:59,320 massive amounts of oxygen. 234 00:30:16,919 --> 00:30:21,450 The earth is waking up and it's a very different place. 235 00:30:58,759 --> 00:31:05,990 Now 600 million years ago the atmosphere is warmer, it feels like a summers day 236 00:31:07,430 --> 00:31:10,310 and the days are about 22 hours long. 237 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:23,669 Add all this water and it's the perfect recipe for life. 238 00:31:27,808 --> 00:31:32,728 Before Snowball Earth primitive bacteria had emerged in the oceans 239 00:31:34,188 --> 00:31:36,519 but surely they couldn't have survived an ice age 240 00:31:36,519 --> 00:31:40,598 75 times longer than the entire span of human history. 241 00:31:43,868 --> 00:31:47,788 If something has survived then our best chance of finding it 242 00:31:47,788 --> 00:31:52,738 is where we last saw life, in the ocean. 243 00:32:09,519 --> 00:32:15,220 Now 540 million years ago in an ocean full of oxygen 244 00:32:15,220 --> 00:32:19,330 those primitive bacteria have evolved. 245 00:32:22,030 --> 00:32:24,750 A handful must have clung on through the big freeze 246 00:32:25,660 --> 00:32:30,699 there are plants everywhere and something else. 247 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:36,489 It looks like some kind of armored slug. 248 00:32:37,359 --> 00:32:39,589 It's called Wiwaxia. 249 00:32:40,359 --> 00:32:44,380 It's one of a new generation of complex multi-celled organisms. 250 00:32:50,060 --> 00:32:53,710 We're entering one of the most dynamic periods in the earth story. 251 00:32:54,568 --> 00:32:57,318 The Cambrian explosion. 252 00:32:57,888 --> 00:33:03,809 Increased oxygen levels allow creatures to grow larger and develop bony skeletons. 253 00:33:07,460 --> 00:33:15,730 There are worms, sponges and these. 254 00:33:17,519 --> 00:33:25,119 They're trilobites distant relatives of insects, lobsters even scorpions. 255 00:33:32,079 --> 00:33:35,399 Life in the oceans is blossoming. 256 00:33:38,540 --> 00:33:45,318 From microscopic bacteria to a monster like this. 257 00:33:50,588 --> 00:33:53,138 This is an Anomalocaris. 258 00:33:53,848 --> 00:33:55,698 It's about 60 centimeters long. 259 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:06,710 Look at its large eyes, its razor-sharp teeth and grasping limbs. 260 00:34:24,340 --> 00:34:29,100 All Anomalocaris has to do is take its pick. 261 00:34:39,578 --> 00:34:44,998 The trilobite caught right itself , its soft belly is exposed. 262 00:35:02,099 --> 00:35:09,390 these are pic aiya they're just five or 263 00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:14,728 so centimetres long but they've got what 264 00:35:09,389 --> 00:35:16,920 may be the first ever spine over 265 00:35:14,728 --> 00:35:19,798 millions of years this simple structure 266 00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:24,690 will evolve into the spine that keeps us 267 00:35:19,798 --> 00:35:28,639 standing erect and creatures are 268 00:35:24,690 --> 00:35:28,639 beginning to take on familiar forms 269 00:35:33,159 --> 00:35:40,078 beneath the waves there are already tens 270 00:35:36,278 --> 00:35:46,380 of thousands of plant and animal species 271 00:35:40,079 --> 00:35:46,380 the advance of life seems unstoppable 272 00:35:51,670 --> 00:35:55,170 we're looking to life on land 273 00:35:55,800 --> 00:36:02,380 460 million years ago and the plates 274 00:35:58,780 --> 00:36:06,780 have moved again below lies a new 275 00:36:02,380 --> 00:36:06,780 continent Gondwana 276 00:36:07,599 --> 00:36:13,569 it's a warm 30 degrees Celsius oxygen 277 00:36:11,860 --> 00:36:18,910 levels are close to those in which we 278 00:36:13,570 --> 00:36:23,700 live the land should be covered with 279 00:36:18,909 --> 00:36:23,699 plants crawling with creatures 280 00:36:24,500 --> 00:36:30,608 but there's not much here beside a few 281 00:36:27,739 --> 00:36:30,608 patches of algae 282 00:36:38,610 --> 00:36:41,960 there's only one explanation 283 00:36:44,150 --> 00:36:46,960 the son 284 00:36:49,349 --> 00:36:54,109 it blasts the surface with deadly 285 00:36:51,748 --> 00:36:54,108 radiation 286 00:36:55,940 --> 00:37:03,400 the complex life we've seen in the ocean 287 00:36:59,108 --> 00:37:03,400 doesn't stand a chance on land 288 00:37:05,659 --> 00:37:10,538 but 50 kilometers are where the rays 289 00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:14,480 enter the Earth's atmosphere 290 00:37:10,539 --> 00:37:17,480 something strange is happening when 291 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:19,750 oxygen meets the sun's radiation the 292 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:24,588 oxygen turns into another kind of gas 293 00:37:19,750 --> 00:37:27,949 called ozone this gas forms a blanket 294 00:37:24,588 --> 00:37:31,719 around the planet this ozone layer 295 00:37:27,949 --> 00:37:31,719 absorbs the lethal radiation 296 00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:40,160 over 120 million years the ozone layer 297 00:37:37,219 --> 00:37:41,779 gets thicker and stops more and more 298 00:37:40,159 --> 00:37:46,879 radiation from reaching the Earth's 299 00:37:41,780 --> 00:37:50,380 surface without this layer life on land 300 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:50,380 simply wouldn't exist 301 00:37:52,880 --> 00:38:00,380 now shielded from radiation life 302 00:37:57,750 --> 00:38:00,380 blossoms 303 00:38:00,630 --> 00:38:08,430 those small mossy lumps are the first 304 00:38:04,110 --> 00:38:13,789 land plants and they're pumping out even 305 00:38:08,429 --> 00:38:13,789 more oxygen levels saw 306 00:38:18,900 --> 00:38:22,829 375 million years ago 307 00:38:34,909 --> 00:38:44,288 there's something down there in the 308 00:38:37,759 --> 00:38:44,289 water it's moving swimming 309 00:39:01,340 --> 00:39:06,820 it's a strange fish called a Tiktaalik 310 00:39:07,420 --> 00:39:09,480 you 311 00:39:17,949 --> 00:39:23,199 it's neck allows it to raise itself up 312 00:39:36,929 --> 00:39:42,108 it uses its fins as if their legs 313 00:39:50,900 --> 00:39:58,130 and moves out of the water where Clarke 314 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:58,130 life is exploding 315 00:39:59,039 --> 00:40:05,309 over 15 million years these creatures 316 00:40:02,010 --> 00:40:07,860 call tetrapods evolve they grow stronger 317 00:40:05,309 --> 00:40:12,960 limbs and spend more time out of the 318 00:40:07,860 --> 00:40:16,880 water until 360 million years ago they 319 00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:16,880 make the land their home 320 00:40:18,170 --> 00:40:23,860 it's from a creature like this that all 321 00:40:21,139 --> 00:40:29,179 four-legged vertebrates will evolve 322 00:40:23,860 --> 00:40:31,720 dinosaurs birds mammals and eventually 323 00:40:29,179 --> 00:40:31,719 you need 324 00:40:40,369 --> 00:40:47,150 we've come a long way from a lump of 325 00:40:43,909 --> 00:40:50,768 burning rock and dust to a Bluegreen 326 00:40:47,150 --> 00:40:50,769 planet bursting with life 327 00:40:54,860 --> 00:41:03,880 there are still no humans but there are 328 00:40:58,190 --> 00:41:03,880 fish plants and this 329 00:41:06,420 --> 00:41:12,980 it's a dragonfly a dragonfly the size of 330 00:41:10,469 --> 00:41:12,980 an eagle 331 00:41:13,300 --> 00:41:17,910 this giant is called meganula 332 00:41:20,349 --> 00:41:25,659 what were once legs have evolved into 333 00:41:22,719 --> 00:41:29,369 wings extending the dragonflies hunting 334 00:41:25,659 --> 00:41:29,369 territory over a vast area 335 00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:40,510 there are millipedes spiders all sorts 336 00:41:37,550 --> 00:41:40,510 of bugs down there 337 00:41:40,539 --> 00:41:46,389 these creatures called arthropods were 338 00:41:43,699 --> 00:41:49,069 among the very first to set foot on land 339 00:41:46,389 --> 00:41:52,069 they've already been around for hundreds 340 00:41:49,070 --> 00:41:54,350 of millions of years they look almost 341 00:41:52,070 --> 00:41:57,769 identical to the bugs that invade our 342 00:41:54,349 --> 00:42:01,549 homes today except for one big 343 00:41:57,769 --> 00:42:04,030 difference like mega Noura they're 344 00:42:01,550 --> 00:42:04,030 monsters 345 00:42:05,690 --> 00:42:12,300 we've stumbled into a lost world of 346 00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:17,180 giants where millipedes are two meters 347 00:42:12,300 --> 00:42:19,980 long and scorpions the size of wolves 348 00:42:17,179 --> 00:42:21,690 all the oxygen in the atmosphere allows 349 00:42:19,980 --> 00:42:24,659 their respiratory systems to be more 350 00:42:21,690 --> 00:42:27,340 efficient and frees up space for their 351 00:42:24,659 --> 00:42:34,469 bodies to grow 352 00:42:27,340 --> 00:42:34,470 a lizard-like creature called anonymous 353 00:42:34,829 --> 00:42:40,409 the creatures we've seen so far laid 354 00:42:37,449 --> 00:42:40,409 their eggs in the water 355 00:42:43,329 --> 00:42:48,380 but these eggs contain all the water and 356 00:42:46,579 --> 00:42:52,069 nutrients the developing Heil anima 357 00:42:48,380 --> 00:42:56,050 Sneed's the babies are growing in their 358 00:42:52,070 --> 00:42:56,050 own self-contained pond 359 00:43:00,130 --> 00:43:05,490 the egg is a major evolutionary 360 00:43:03,130 --> 00:43:05,490 breakthrough 361 00:43:08,389 --> 00:43:15,500 now animals can leave the water behind 362 00:43:11,190 --> 00:43:15,500 and conquer the land 363 00:43:21,510 --> 00:43:26,850 this baby hi Lana mas will lead the 364 00:43:24,760 --> 00:43:26,850 advance 365 00:43:27,119 --> 00:43:33,710 it's a new kind of creature a reptile 366 00:43:48,309 --> 00:43:55,579 inevitably with life comes death there's 367 00:43:53,150 --> 00:43:59,980 so much dead plant matter it builds up 368 00:43:55,579 --> 00:43:59,980 and decays into dense soggy layers 369 00:44:01,380 --> 00:44:08,769 over hundreds of millions of years rocks 370 00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:10,539 will cover these layers heat from the 371 00:44:08,769 --> 00:44:13,150 Earth's core and pressure from the 372 00:44:10,539 --> 00:44:18,119 overlying rocks will transform the 373 00:44:13,150 --> 00:44:18,119 layers of dead plants into seams of coal 374 00:44:18,380 --> 00:44:24,320 each lump of coal we burn today to warm 375 00:44:21,289 --> 00:44:27,349 our homes and fire our power stations is 376 00:44:24,320 --> 00:44:29,860 made of flowers that died 300 million 377 00:44:27,349 --> 00:44:29,860 years ago 378 00:44:35,469 --> 00:44:41,459 amidst the decay hidden from sight life 379 00:44:39,820 --> 00:44:45,250 is stirring 380 00:44:41,460 --> 00:44:50,429 soon seeds will germinate plants will 381 00:44:45,250 --> 00:44:56,039 grow and this wasteland will live again 382 00:44:50,429 --> 00:44:56,039 life seems to have conquered the planet 383 00:45:20,239 --> 00:45:26,479 a herd of creatures graze the Siberian 384 00:45:23,210 --> 00:45:28,519 Plains they're not dinosaurs 385 00:45:26,480 --> 00:45:32,960 they won't set foot on earth for at 386 00:45:28,519 --> 00:45:36,440 least another 20 million years but 387 00:45:32,960 --> 00:45:39,710 they're big evolution has taken a huge 388 00:45:36,440 --> 00:45:44,349 leap forwards the small lizards we saw 389 00:45:39,710 --> 00:45:48,170 earlier and now giant reptiles 390 00:45:44,349 --> 00:45:54,410 these are scooter soars the distant 391 00:45:48,170 --> 00:45:57,380 relatives of turtles they're plant 392 00:45:54,409 --> 00:46:00,379 eaters and if the plant eaters look this 393 00:45:57,380 --> 00:46:08,340 tough the karlik wars must be seriously 394 00:46:00,380 --> 00:46:11,700 mean it's a Gorgon awesome 395 00:46:08,340 --> 00:46:14,390 a perfectly engineered prehistoric 396 00:46:11,699 --> 00:46:14,389 killing machine 397 00:46:22,909 --> 00:46:28,389 the gorgonopsids saber teeth have 398 00:46:25,219 --> 00:46:28,389 wounded the scooter sir 399 00:46:41,880 --> 00:46:57,660 the predator is watching as its prey 400 00:46:45,550 --> 00:47:01,230 grows weak from blood loss until hold on 401 00:46:57,659 --> 00:47:03,259 it's backing off something strange is 402 00:47:01,230 --> 00:47:03,259 happening 403 00:47:03,349 --> 00:47:08,299 the ground is getting hot 404 00:47:06,239 --> 00:47:08,299 you 405 00:47:12,519 --> 00:47:17,610 there must be enormous pressure beneath 406 00:47:15,070 --> 00:47:17,610 the surface 407 00:47:43,588 --> 00:47:52,969 there's larvae but this isn't one single 408 00:47:47,068 --> 00:47:52,969 volcano the entire landscape is erupting 409 00:47:54,980 --> 00:48:01,460 it's a flood basalt eruption a massive 410 00:47:59,239 --> 00:48:04,578 plume of mantle is rising up from deep 411 00:48:01,460 --> 00:48:08,230 inside the earth pushing molten rock out 412 00:48:04,579 --> 00:48:08,230 through fissures in the Earth's crust 413 00:48:15,150 --> 00:48:23,599 the lush paradise is now a lifeless hell 414 00:48:20,088 --> 00:48:27,420 the SCOOTER sores and the gorgonopsids a 415 00:48:23,599 --> 00:48:29,730 debt they're the first casualties in the 416 00:48:27,420 --> 00:48:34,970 greatest mass extinction the world has 417 00:48:29,730 --> 00:48:34,969 ever seen the Permian extinction 418 00:48:43,798 --> 00:48:51,000 on the other side of the continent of 419 00:48:46,480 --> 00:48:51,000 Gondwana it's as if nothing happened 420 00:48:59,170 --> 00:49:01,980 snow 421 00:49:02,579 --> 00:49:07,279 but the temperature is about 20 degrees 422 00:49:04,860 --> 00:49:11,840 Celsius 423 00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:16,269 it's not snow it's ash fallout from the 424 00:49:11,840 --> 00:49:16,269 eruption some 16,000 kilometers away 425 00:49:19,380 --> 00:49:27,239 the ash burns suffocates and kills 426 00:49:23,588 --> 00:49:27,239 animals around the world 427 00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:42,929 the atmosphere is full of sulfur dioxide 428 00:49:38,280 --> 00:49:45,510 from the eruptions and it rains the gas 429 00:49:42,929 --> 00:49:48,980 turns to sulfuric acid and burns 430 00:49:45,510 --> 00:49:48,980 everything it falls on 431 00:49:52,739 --> 00:50:01,039 at first it seemed like this was a local 432 00:49:55,889 --> 00:50:01,039 disaster but now it's gone global 433 00:50:02,690 --> 00:50:08,889 the Siberian eruptions increase the 434 00:50:05,210 --> 00:50:08,889 Earth's carbon dioxide levels 435 00:50:12,579 --> 00:50:18,869 the atmosphere gets hotter 436 00:50:15,818 --> 00:50:18,869 water evaporates 437 00:50:19,719 --> 00:50:27,859 the vegetation dies 438 00:50:23,070 --> 00:50:27,860 we saw life had finally found a foothold 439 00:50:32,679 --> 00:50:36,239 now it looks like we were wrong 440 00:50:45,019 --> 00:50:52,009 there are no signs of life on land but 441 00:50:49,349 --> 00:50:52,009 in the oceans 442 00:50:52,800 --> 00:50:58,700 this can't be right the oceans are 443 00:50:56,190 --> 00:50:58,700 turning pink 444 00:51:04,099 --> 00:51:10,420 and the plants the trilobites 445 00:51:07,159 --> 00:51:10,420 the Predators everything's gone 446 00:51:10,510 --> 00:51:17,150 everything except for this pink algae 447 00:51:14,500 --> 00:51:18,889 the new hotter atmosphere must have 448 00:51:17,150 --> 00:51:21,039 heated the oceans and stripped them of 449 00:51:18,889 --> 00:51:21,039 oxygen 450 00:51:21,670 --> 00:51:27,909 now nothing except algae can survive in 451 00:51:25,010 --> 00:51:27,910 the stagnant water 452 00:51:29,340 --> 00:51:34,960 the Siberian eruptions are transforming 453 00:51:32,010 --> 00:51:38,680 the entire planet 454 00:51:34,960 --> 00:51:41,880 nothing not even the deepest ocean floor 455 00:51:38,679 --> 00:51:41,879 is beyond their reach 456 00:51:42,769 --> 00:51:46,300 look bubbles 457 00:51:49,079 --> 00:51:54,989 but it's not oxygen it's methane 458 00:51:52,489 --> 00:51:59,459 escaping from vast pockets of methane 459 00:51:54,989 --> 00:52:02,279 gas beneath the seabed methane is a 460 00:51:59,460 --> 00:52:05,449 greenhouse gas at least 20 times 461 00:52:02,280 --> 00:52:05,450 deadlier than carbon dioxide 462 00:52:06,139 --> 00:52:12,889 until now the gas has been frozen but as 463 00:52:09,798 --> 00:52:15,219 the sea temperature rises the gas begins 464 00:52:12,889 --> 00:52:15,219 to melt 465 00:52:28,130 --> 00:52:32,990 released into the atmosphere this 466 00:52:30,710 --> 00:52:35,380 powerful gas pushes up temperatures even 467 00:52:32,989 --> 00:52:35,379 further 468 00:52:35,480 --> 00:52:41,480 up to almost 40 degrees six degrees 469 00:52:39,349 --> 00:52:43,960 hotter than before the Siberian 470 00:52:41,480 --> 00:52:43,960 eruptions 471 00:52:47,329 --> 00:52:54,289 now even the creatures that have made it 472 00:52:50,519 --> 00:52:54,289 this far are tuned 473 00:52:56,108 --> 00:53:03,978 it's 500,000 years since the eruptions 474 00:52:59,778 --> 00:53:06,708 first began and all this time for half a 475 00:53:03,978 --> 00:53:10,608 million years the lava has been pouring 476 00:53:06,708 --> 00:53:13,608 out by now it covers an area the size of 477 00:53:10,608 --> 00:53:20,268 the United States with a layer of molten 478 00:53:13,608 --> 00:53:22,608 rock nearly six kilometers deep 250 479 00:53:20,268 --> 00:53:27,189 million years ago we're back where we 480 00:53:22,608 --> 00:53:27,190 started on a lifeless planet 481 00:53:27,460 --> 00:53:40,088 almost it's 50 million years since 482 00:53:37,568 --> 00:53:45,929 virtually all life on Earth was wiped 483 00:53:40,088 --> 00:53:45,929 out and the planet has been transformed 484 00:53:48,208 --> 00:53:55,538 it's now 200 million years ago and 485 00:53:52,588 --> 00:54:00,900 there's just one supercontinent called 486 00:53:55,539 --> 00:54:00,900 Pangea stretching from pole to pole 487 00:54:13,789 --> 00:54:20,028 after the trauma of the mass extinction 488 00:54:16,528 --> 00:54:20,028 the planet is healing 489 00:54:20,539 --> 00:54:25,940 temperatures are stabilizing the acid 490 00:54:23,989 --> 00:54:28,659 rain is neutralizing and vegetation 491 00:54:25,940 --> 00:54:28,659 returning 492 00:54:39,568 --> 00:54:46,440 and with 95% of all life on Earth wiped 493 00:54:43,048 --> 00:54:50,338 out the field is open for a new species 494 00:54:46,440 --> 00:54:54,858 to emerge one that will dominate the 495 00:54:50,338 --> 00:54:54,858 planet like no other before or since 496 00:54:59,449 --> 00:55:02,828 the dinosaurs 497 00:55:05,269 --> 00:55:11,239 these dinosaurs are called Amazon's like 498 00:55:09,349 --> 00:55:13,368 all dinosaurs they've evolved from the 499 00:55:11,239 --> 00:55:16,269 handful of reptiles that survived the 500 00:55:13,369 --> 00:55:16,269 Permian extinction 501 00:55:18,090 --> 00:55:26,750 at four and a half meters tall their 502 00:55:21,000 --> 00:55:26,750 size makes them slow and vulnerable I 503 00:55:28,789 --> 00:55:44,480 don't offer Soros two of them they're 504 00:55:40,710 --> 00:55:44,480 small and fast 505 00:55:45,440 --> 00:55:47,500 you 506 00:56:10,840 --> 00:56:19,000 the Allosaurus is too big a meal for one 507 00:56:13,969 --> 00:56:19,000 Dilophosaurus but not for too 508 00:56:31,969 --> 00:56:39,019 the dinosaurs have repopulated the earth 509 00:56:35,530 --> 00:56:42,490 but no species contain this Restless 510 00:56:39,019 --> 00:56:42,489 volatile planet 511 00:56:47,039 --> 00:56:53,108 the Earth's crust is thinning here it's 512 00:56:50,739 --> 00:56:55,989 releasing lava shaking with earthquakes 513 00:56:53,108 --> 00:56:59,130 as though it's been stretched by some 514 00:56:55,989 --> 00:56:59,129 unseen force 515 00:57:02,010 --> 00:57:06,270 and the same thing is happening all the 516 00:57:04,139 --> 00:57:09,440 way down what will be North America's 517 00:57:06,269 --> 00:57:09,440 eastern seaboard 518 00:57:16,610 --> 00:57:23,599 the Earth's plates are on the move again 519 00:57:20,710 --> 00:57:28,480 190 million years ago the great 520 00:57:23,599 --> 00:57:28,480 supercontinent of Pangaea breaks up 521 00:57:31,949 --> 00:57:38,879 a vast slab of land has broken away you 522 00:57:35,760 --> 00:57:41,579 creates a chasm and this fills with a 523 00:57:38,880 --> 00:57:44,990 new ocean called the Texas over what 524 00:57:41,579 --> 00:57:44,990 will one day be the Middle East 525 00:57:45,179 --> 00:57:49,528 currents are pushing nutrients up into 526 00:57:47,608 --> 00:57:54,440 the coastal waters running along what 527 00:57:49,528 --> 00:57:54,440 will be Saudi Arabia Iraq and Iran 528 00:57:56,130 --> 00:58:02,300 and the nutrients attract fish in their 529 00:57:59,880 --> 00:58:02,300 Millions 530 00:58:04,809 --> 00:58:13,969 and with so much life also comes death 531 00:58:11,239 --> 00:58:16,239 dead fish and plankton carpet the ocean 532 00:58:13,969 --> 00:58:16,239 floor 533 00:58:20,909 --> 00:58:26,829 over the next 10 million years layers of 534 00:58:24,699 --> 00:58:32,710 rock will bury and heat the dead 535 00:58:26,829 --> 00:58:35,400 creatures ancient fish and plankton will 536 00:58:32,710 --> 00:58:35,400 become oil 537 00:58:42,679 --> 00:58:51,469 every litre of fuel in our cars every 538 00:58:48,019 --> 00:58:54,429 piece of plastic on the planet the paint 539 00:58:51,469 --> 00:58:58,089 on our walls the carpet under our feet 540 00:58:54,429 --> 00:59:01,569 even the soap you wash with almost all 541 00:58:58,090 --> 00:59:01,570 originated in this way 542 00:59:19,139 --> 00:59:25,298 180 million years ago and further west 543 00:59:23,048 --> 00:59:29,699 the North American plate is still moving 544 00:59:25,298 --> 00:59:29,699 away from the European and Asian plate 545 00:59:31,769 --> 00:59:37,860 it happens slowly at about two and a 546 00:59:35,010 --> 00:59:41,239 half centimeters each year the same 547 00:59:37,860 --> 00:59:44,880 speed as our fingernails grow 548 00:59:41,239 --> 00:59:48,659 but hit fast-forward and a new ocean 549 00:59:44,880 --> 00:59:51,140 forms right beneath us and new 550 00:59:48,659 --> 00:59:54,858 continents 551 00:59:51,139 --> 00:59:57,759 Montreal moves away from Marrakesh New 552 00:59:54,858 --> 01:00:00,659 York from West Africa 553 00:59:57,760 --> 01:00:03,490 the world as we know it is taking shape 554 01:00:00,659 --> 01:00:07,649 the chasm between the two continents 555 01:00:03,489 --> 01:00:07,649 fills to create a vast ocean 556 01:00:07,869 --> 01:00:10,949 the Atlantic 557 01:00:16,068 --> 01:00:20,739 and they're in the middle a volcano 558 01:00:21,730 --> 01:00:27,409 we've seen plates move before we know 559 01:00:25,340 --> 01:00:30,590 it's caused by currents deep beneath the 560 01:00:27,409 --> 01:00:34,599 earth's crust this process is happening 561 01:00:30,590 --> 01:00:34,600 down there right now 562 01:00:47,460 --> 01:00:53,170 the entire seafloor has been torn in two 563 01:00:50,920 --> 01:00:57,460 and pushed up into a ridge of mountains 564 01:00:53,170 --> 01:00:59,829 and volcanoes it's growing higher than 565 01:00:57,460 --> 01:01:02,220 the Himalayas and longer than the 566 01:00:59,829 --> 01:01:02,219 Rockies 567 01:01:02,449 --> 01:01:08,629 the waters hot here molten lava is 568 01:01:06,469 --> 01:01:10,929 forcing its way out from deep inside the 569 01:01:08,630 --> 01:01:10,930 earth 570 01:01:13,650 --> 01:01:19,499 as the lava cools it's creating a new 571 01:01:16,259 --> 01:01:22,429 range of volcanic mountains and new 572 01:01:19,498 --> 01:01:22,429 ocean floor 573 01:01:22,739 --> 01:01:27,989 this is what's pushing the plates and 574 01:01:24,980 --> 01:01:31,730 Pangaea apart 575 01:01:27,989 --> 01:01:31,729 and rearranging our world 576 01:01:45,228 --> 01:01:55,098 it's this geological activity that makes 577 01:01:48,989 --> 01:01:55,099 the earth Restless creative unique 578 01:01:56,170 --> 01:02:01,539 and every time the planet reinvents 579 01:01:58,389 --> 01:02:04,949 itself the things that live on it must 580 01:02:01,539 --> 01:02:04,949 adapt and evolve 581 01:02:11,590 --> 01:02:17,440 things like these there akia sores 582 01:02:18,818 --> 01:02:24,268 they're reptile ancestors lived on land 583 01:02:21,298 --> 01:02:27,759 but as the planet changed so did they 584 01:02:24,268 --> 01:02:30,988 they grew fins and moved into the newly 585 01:02:27,759 --> 01:02:30,989 formed Atlantic Ocean 586 01:02:34,469 --> 01:02:39,959 this one is six meters long and fast it 587 01:02:38,159 --> 01:02:42,049 travels at about forty kilometres an 588 01:02:39,960 --> 01:02:42,050 hour 589 01:02:46,989 --> 01:02:53,209 it's the oceans fastest creature the 590 01:02:50,690 --> 01:02:57,820 most efficient predator and it's ruled 591 01:02:53,210 --> 01:02:57,820 the Earth's oceans for 50 million years 592 01:03:11,519 --> 01:03:16,289 but now there's a new contender for the 593 01:03:14,260 --> 01:03:16,290 crown 594 01:03:29,980 --> 01:03:33,190 appliance or 595 01:03:33,789 --> 01:03:41,058 longer than a bus as heavy as a truck 596 01:03:37,300 --> 01:03:43,339 its jaws are immense over eight times 597 01:03:41,059 --> 01:03:50,140 more powerful than a great white sharks 598 01:03:43,338 --> 01:03:50,139 and its teeth a 30 centimeters long 599 01:04:01,039 --> 01:04:07,329 the earth and the creatures that live on 600 01:04:03,800 --> 01:04:11,330 it has changed beyond recognition 601 01:04:07,329 --> 01:04:13,710 this was once solid ground now it's the 602 01:04:11,329 --> 01:04:16,529 Atlantic Ocean 603 01:04:13,710 --> 01:04:17,039 it was on this very spot that we stood 604 01:04:16,530 --> 01:04:20,190 and watched 605 01:04:17,039 --> 01:04:24,599 Amazon's graze and I'll office or stalk 606 01:04:20,190 --> 01:04:28,250 their prey the dinosaurs world may be 607 01:04:24,599 --> 01:04:33,619 different but there is dominant as ever 608 01:04:28,250 --> 01:04:33,619 they appear invincible 609 01:04:46,849 --> 01:04:52,319 it's a shrew-like mammal and it's 610 01:04:50,280 --> 01:04:54,960 evolved from the small number of mammals 611 01:04:52,320 --> 01:04:58,740 that survived the mass extinction 185 612 01:04:54,960 --> 01:05:02,670 million years ago it's also prey for the 613 01:04:58,739 --> 01:05:05,549 dinosaurs this is why most mammals live 614 01:05:02,670 --> 01:05:08,400 in the trees or underground and venture 615 01:05:05,550 --> 01:05:11,210 out at night mammals are no threat to 616 01:05:08,400 --> 01:05:11,210 the dinosaurs 617 01:05:16,900 --> 01:05:21,329 nothing on earth can challenge their 618 01:05:18,880 --> 01:05:21,329 dominance 619 01:05:25,289 --> 01:05:30,150 nothing on earth 620 01:05:38,059 --> 01:05:44,210 it's a lump of space rock a large one 621 01:05:49,170 --> 01:05:58,670 this asteroid is about ten kilometers 622 01:05:51,659 --> 01:05:58,670 across bigger than Mount Everest 623 01:06:03,960 --> 01:06:09,480 and it's traveling at over 70,000 624 01:06:06,539 --> 01:06:11,599 kilometers an hour straight towards the 625 01:06:09,480 --> 01:06:11,599 earth 626 01:06:20,750 --> 01:06:27,469 it's heading for the Gulf of Mexico just 627 01:06:24,599 --> 01:06:27,470 off the Yucatan Peninsula 628 01:06:35,239 --> 01:06:46,219 it travels so fast blink and we'd miss 629 01:06:38,960 --> 01:06:48,050 the impact unless we slow down time it's 630 01:06:46,219 --> 01:06:50,679 a split second that will change the 631 01:06:48,050 --> 01:06:50,680 world forever 632 01:06:56,650 --> 01:07:03,349 at the moment of impact the asteroids 633 01:06:59,929 --> 01:07:05,838 back edge is still nearly 11,000 meters 634 01:07:03,349 --> 01:07:08,410 the same height as a commercial aircraft 635 01:07:05,838 --> 01:07:08,409 flies 636 01:07:21,929 --> 01:07:30,259 the asteroid strikes with such immense 637 01:07:25,048 --> 01:07:30,259 force it destroys everything it hits 638 01:07:30,300 --> 01:07:36,110 even the asteroid itself instantly 639 01:07:33,300 --> 01:07:36,110 vaporizes 640 01:07:43,199 --> 01:07:49,098 the impact unleashes the energy of 641 01:07:45,510 --> 01:07:49,099 millions of nuclear weapons 642 01:07:59,798 --> 01:08:05,498 nowhere is safe not even way up here 643 01:08:06,989 --> 01:08:12,319 some of these boulders are as big as 644 01:08:09,090 --> 01:08:12,320 entire city blocks 645 01:08:29,519 --> 01:08:34,559 the blastwave races out from the impact 646 01:08:32,037 --> 01:08:36,798 zone like shrapnel from an exploding 647 01:08:34,559 --> 01:08:36,798 bomb 648 01:09:12,298 --> 01:09:16,439 I mean it's after impact thousands of 649 01:09:14,939 --> 01:09:19,649 kilometers from where the asteroid 650 01:09:16,439 --> 01:09:22,250 struck the earth is under attack from 651 01:09:19,649 --> 01:09:22,250 every direction 652 01:09:24,279 --> 01:09:27,600 boulders rained down 653 01:09:31,609 --> 01:09:35,630 earthquakes shake the ground 654 01:09:38,720 --> 01:09:44,868 and tsunamis batter the coasts 655 01:09:54,578 --> 01:10:01,460 but the onslaught has only just begun 656 01:09:58,599 --> 01:10:05,949 the plume of molten rock and dust 657 01:10:01,460 --> 01:10:05,948 spreads out and engulfs the planet 658 01:10:06,090 --> 01:10:11,989 the entire sky is acting like a giant 659 01:10:09,180 --> 01:10:11,990 sunlit 660 01:10:17,569 --> 01:10:26,840 the Earth's surface heats up to 275 661 01:10:21,170 --> 01:10:29,828 degrees vegetation begins to 662 01:10:26,840 --> 01:10:29,828 spontaneously ignite 663 01:10:36,010 --> 01:10:43,680 even months after the impact smoke and 664 01:10:39,550 --> 01:10:43,680 ash still block out the sun's rays 665 01:10:43,960 --> 01:10:51,329 with less sunlight plants died and the 666 01:10:47,710 --> 01:10:51,329 animals that eat them starve 667 01:10:52,430 --> 01:11:01,180 against this onslaught it's hard to see 668 01:10:55,729 --> 01:11:06,699 how anything can survive the dinosaurs 669 01:11:01,180 --> 01:11:06,700 165 million year reign is over 670 01:11:13,998 --> 01:11:22,788 but the dinosaurs demise is an 671 01:11:17,158 --> 01:11:25,198 opportunity for another species mammals 672 01:11:22,788 --> 01:11:28,498 by living underground they've avoided 673 01:11:25,198 --> 01:11:31,259 the heat in the fires and by eating 674 01:11:28,498 --> 01:11:35,269 anything and everything they thrive 675 01:11:31,260 --> 01:11:35,269 while more selective eaters die 676 01:11:42,448 --> 01:11:48,899 these are the unlikely inheritors of the 677 01:11:45,939 --> 01:11:48,899 dinosaurs crown 678 01:11:54,720 --> 01:12:01,530 and as one story ends another begins 679 01:12:02,289 --> 01:12:14,199 with the dinosaurs out of the way this 680 01:12:06,430 --> 01:12:17,860 could be our ancestors chance the 681 01:12:14,199 --> 01:12:20,279 dinosaurs are long dead the planet is 682 01:12:17,859 --> 01:12:20,279 peaceful 683 01:12:24,019 --> 01:12:29,498 in this new world our mammal ancestors 684 01:12:26,658 --> 01:12:29,498 are evolving 685 01:12:39,368 --> 01:12:45,368 this lake 47 million years ago in what 686 01:12:43,060 --> 01:12:48,840 will one day be Germany should be the 687 01:12:45,368 --> 01:12:48,839 perfect place to spot them 688 01:13:04,559 --> 01:13:10,309 this isn't like the mammals we saw 689 01:13:06,510 --> 01:13:17,460 earlier its eyes and brain are bigger 690 01:13:10,309 --> 01:13:19,829 this is Darwinian massive a or EDA she 691 01:13:17,460 --> 01:13:21,750 looks nothing like us but fossil 692 01:13:19,828 --> 01:13:23,549 evidence from our own time tells us 693 01:13:21,750 --> 01:13:29,420 these creatures could evolve into 694 01:13:23,550 --> 01:13:29,420 monkeys apes and eventually humans 695 01:13:31,078 --> 01:13:37,198 we're looking back through 47 million 696 01:13:33,960 --> 01:13:41,090 years of evolution to what may be one of 697 01:13:37,198 --> 01:13:41,089 our earliest known ancestors 698 01:13:43,430 --> 01:13:51,020 the lake sits on a volcanic crater it 699 01:13:47,579 --> 01:13:51,019 belches out noxious gas 700 01:13:58,738 --> 01:14:04,000 now the lake that killed her will 701 01:14:01,689 --> 01:14:06,509 preserve her in its oxygen-depleted 702 01:14:04,000 --> 01:14:06,510 deaths 703 01:14:15,270 --> 01:14:25,180 one day when the water has gone an EDA 704 01:14:19,750 --> 01:14:28,239 is fossilized in stone we will discover 705 01:14:25,180 --> 01:14:31,329 her and recognize in this primitive 706 01:14:28,239 --> 01:14:37,260 primate what could be the very beginning 707 01:14:31,329 --> 01:14:37,260 of our own story the story of human life 708 01:14:51,179 --> 01:14:55,690 we're closer to understanding how 709 01:14:53,590 --> 01:14:58,350 everything we've seen from ocean 710 01:14:55,689 --> 01:15:03,339 bacteria through walking fish and 711 01:14:58,350 --> 01:15:07,440 subterranean rodents leads to us and to 712 01:15:03,340 --> 01:15:07,440 understanding how our planet was made 713 01:15:14,770 --> 01:15:21,460 47 million years ago and the atmosphere 714 01:15:18,470 --> 01:15:21,460 is much like our own 715 01:15:23,868 --> 01:15:33,469 the temperature is 24 degrees Celsius 716 01:15:27,010 --> 01:15:35,210 and a day lasts just under 24 hours the 717 01:15:33,469 --> 01:15:38,859 earth we're looking at now is almost 718 01:15:35,210 --> 01:15:41,760 identical to the planet we call home 719 01:15:38,859 --> 01:15:41,760 almost 720 01:16:00,079 --> 01:16:06,029 the Earth's plates have been on the move 721 01:16:01,909 --> 01:16:10,699 again with the continents on their backs 722 01:16:06,029 --> 01:16:10,699 India moves north towards Asia 723 01:16:18,340 --> 01:16:24,409 the Indian and Asian plates are locked 724 01:16:21,250 --> 01:16:26,470 in a titanic struggle 725 01:16:24,409 --> 01:16:26,470 you 726 01:16:31,750 --> 01:16:38,658 neither plate is winning both plates 727 01:16:35,840 --> 01:16:41,480 begin to buckle 728 01:16:38,658 --> 01:16:43,789 what was once oh she and floor contorts 729 01:16:41,479 --> 01:16:46,509 upwards along a two and a half thousand 730 01:16:43,789 --> 01:16:46,510 kilometer line 731 01:16:52,269 --> 01:17:02,640 a vast mountain range rises up 732 01:16:56,369 --> 01:17:02,640 1,500 meters 4,500 meters 733 01:17:06,078 --> 01:17:10,208 now over 8,000 meters 734 01:17:13,118 --> 01:17:15,179 you 735 01:17:17,109 --> 01:17:21,389 these are the Himalayas 736 01:17:29,868 --> 01:17:34,839 and there it is the highest mountain of 737 01:17:33,408 --> 01:17:37,710 all 738 01:17:34,840 --> 01:17:37,710 Mount Everest 739 01:17:41,149 --> 01:17:49,719 when the snow on the peaks melts it 740 01:17:44,210 --> 01:17:54,640 feeds great rivers the Ganges Indus 741 01:17:49,720 --> 01:17:54,640 Yangtze and yellow rivers 742 01:17:57,510 --> 01:18:03,329 the Himalayas are like a vast water 743 01:17:59,880 --> 01:18:05,789 tower one day their rivers will supply 744 01:18:03,329 --> 01:18:07,909 water for almost half the world's 745 01:18:05,789 --> 01:18:07,909 population 746 01:18:22,090 --> 01:18:32,020 20 million years ago this is our planet 747 01:18:27,420 --> 01:18:34,399 with every continent every ocean just as 748 01:18:32,020 --> 01:18:39,410 we know it 749 01:18:34,399 --> 01:18:42,039 except there's one thing missing us the 750 01:18:39,409 --> 01:18:42,039 human race 751 01:18:42,328 --> 01:18:49,939 for humans to evolve something somewhere 752 01:18:46,020 --> 01:18:49,940 down there has to change 753 01:19:08,840 --> 01:19:13,760 along Africa's East Coast between the 754 01:19:11,720 --> 01:19:17,860 plates that make up the Earth's crust a 755 01:19:13,760 --> 01:19:17,860 great rift opens up 756 01:19:21,779 --> 01:19:27,170 the rift stretches nearly 6,000 757 01:19:24,630 --> 01:19:27,170 kilometers 758 01:19:30,868 --> 01:19:35,208 along its edge mountains grow 759 01:19:41,390 --> 01:19:44,020 there 760 01:19:44,729 --> 01:19:51,809 it looks like a name not a human it 761 01:19:48,510 --> 01:19:55,039 might stay in these trees forever but 762 01:19:51,809 --> 01:19:55,038 its world is changing 763 01:19:59,639 --> 01:20:05,349 the growing mountains act like a wall 764 01:20:02,698 --> 01:20:09,250 they stop moisture from the Indian Ocean 765 01:20:05,349 --> 01:20:13,420 passing over the land it's getting 766 01:20:09,250 --> 01:20:16,829 hotter and drier the lush rainforest is 767 01:20:13,420 --> 01:20:16,829 becoming arid savanna 768 01:20:18,149 --> 01:20:23,389 the new hotter climate destroys the 769 01:20:20,550 --> 01:20:23,390 creatures habitat 770 01:20:27,319 --> 01:20:33,599 it forces them to search further afield 771 01:20:30,300 --> 01:20:40,199 for food to stop dragging their knuckles 772 01:20:33,600 --> 01:20:43,590 on the floor like Apes to stand and walk 773 01:20:40,199 --> 01:20:46,880 on two feet it's the most important step 774 01:20:43,590 --> 01:20:46,880 in the human story 775 01:20:48,550 --> 01:20:54,159 this mountain range along Africa's East 776 01:20:51,100 --> 01:20:58,750 Coast could be the reason we walk on two 777 01:20:54,159 --> 01:21:00,880 feet it seems incredible the random 778 01:20:58,750 --> 01:21:03,579 movement of two plates may have 779 01:21:00,880 --> 01:21:07,140 kick-started a chain of events that will 780 01:21:03,579 --> 01:21:07,140 lead to the first humans 781 01:21:32,809 --> 01:21:41,010 the man and child it could be a scene 782 01:21:37,260 --> 01:21:44,849 from our own time but it's one and a 783 01:21:41,010 --> 01:21:47,789 half million years ago these are an 784 01:21:44,849 --> 01:21:49,939 early species of human called Homo 785 01:21:47,788 --> 01:21:49,938 erectus 786 01:21:51,289 --> 01:21:58,300 and these are the first footprints like 787 01:21:53,479 --> 01:22:01,909 our own civilizations past and present 788 01:21:58,300 --> 01:22:04,900 everyone that's ever lived the greatest 789 01:22:01,909 --> 01:22:08,689 inventions the most brilliant ideas 790 01:22:04,899 --> 01:22:14,619 human history in all its complexity and 791 01:22:08,689 --> 01:22:14,619 splendour begins here and now 792 01:22:31,538 --> 01:22:40,779 the climate changes again 70,000 years 793 01:22:37,300 --> 01:22:43,420 ago sea levels fall the gap between 794 01:22:40,779 --> 01:22:49,538 Africa and Arabia shrinks down to just 795 01:22:43,420 --> 01:22:52,149 13 kilometers the Red Sea is narrow and 796 01:22:49,538 --> 01:22:56,189 shallow enough for this small group to 797 01:22:52,149 --> 01:22:56,189 cross out of Africa 798 01:22:57,899 --> 01:23:05,119 they're another later species of human 799 01:23:01,128 --> 01:23:05,118 called Homo sapiens 800 01:23:16,889 --> 01:23:22,650 they've made it across scientists 801 01:23:21,090 --> 01:23:25,500 believe every man woman and child 802 01:23:22,649 --> 01:23:32,039 outside of Africa is descended from 803 01:23:25,500 --> 01:23:35,250 these 200 or so individuals over time 804 01:23:32,039 --> 01:23:40,310 our ancestors multiply and spread out to 805 01:23:35,250 --> 01:23:40,310 India on to Asia and into Europe 806 01:23:47,319 --> 01:23:54,719 but while humans head north a giant wall 807 01:23:50,949 --> 01:23:54,720 of ice travels south 808 01:24:04,510 --> 01:24:14,690 Europe 40,000 years ago our Homo sapiens 809 01:24:11,389 --> 01:24:18,440 ancestors are arriving only to find a 810 01:24:14,689 --> 01:24:20,988 world that's changing fast it's getting 811 01:24:18,439 --> 01:24:24,259 colder it should be the height of summer 812 01:24:20,988 --> 01:24:27,698 but the plants are frostbitten the 813 01:24:24,260 --> 01:24:27,699 rivers are frozen 814 01:24:32,579 --> 01:24:39,850 natural changes in the Earth's orbit co2 815 01:24:37,118 --> 01:24:42,639 levels and the flow of warm water around 816 01:24:39,850 --> 01:24:44,479 the planet conspire to lower the earth's 817 01:24:42,639 --> 01:24:48,288 temperature 818 01:24:44,479 --> 01:24:50,349 the earth and its inhabitants enter an 819 01:24:48,288 --> 01:24:53,050 ice age 820 01:24:50,349 --> 01:24:54,909 Glacia is as high as skyscrapers creep 821 01:24:53,050 --> 01:24:57,110 over the northern hemisphere at 30 822 01:24:54,908 --> 01:25:00,679 centimeters a day 823 01:24:57,109 --> 01:25:02,649 slow and powerful they sculpt the 824 01:25:00,679 --> 01:25:06,929 landscape as they move over it 825 01:25:02,649 --> 01:25:08,698 gouging out great depressions 826 01:25:06,929 --> 01:25:10,939 the planet will never look the same 827 01:25:08,698 --> 01:25:10,938 again 828 01:25:16,828 --> 01:25:22,759 now around 20,000 years ago they grind 829 01:25:20,908 --> 01:25:24,769 to a halt 830 01:25:22,760 --> 01:25:26,690 much of the Northern Hemisphere is 831 01:25:24,770 --> 01:25:30,770 covered by ice sheets up to two and a 832 01:25:26,689 --> 01:25:33,559 half kilometers thick with trillions of 833 01:25:30,770 --> 01:25:36,220 gallons of water locked up as ice sea 834 01:25:33,560 --> 01:25:36,220 levels fall 835 01:25:45,498 --> 01:25:50,748 twenty thousand years ago a strip of 836 01:25:48,889 --> 01:25:54,489 land emerges from the ocean between 837 01:25:50,748 --> 01:25:54,488 Siberia and Alaska 838 01:25:56,960 --> 01:26:03,380 it's a bridge between two vast 839 01:25:59,359 --> 01:26:09,199 continents a gateway that takes humans 840 01:26:03,380 --> 01:26:11,619 from Asia to a new world America it's 841 01:26:09,199 --> 01:26:15,550 the last great continent to be colonized 842 01:26:11,619 --> 01:26:18,739 the last great human migration and 843 01:26:15,550 --> 01:26:21,369 somewhere down there are the first 844 01:26:18,739 --> 01:26:21,369 Americans 845 01:26:33,010 --> 01:26:41,989 now 14,000 years ago the changes that 846 01:26:37,849 --> 01:26:43,849 triggered the ice age go into reverse as 847 01:26:41,988 --> 01:26:47,148 the ice retreats it reveals a very 848 01:26:43,849 --> 01:26:50,748 different northern hemisphere the 849 01:26:47,149 --> 01:26:53,569 glaciers gouged out huge depressions now 850 01:26:50,748 --> 01:26:56,948 they fill with water to become North 851 01:26:53,569 --> 01:26:56,949 America's Great Lakes 852 01:27:08,958 --> 01:27:18,019 6,000 years ago the ice retreats back to 853 01:27:13,139 --> 01:27:18,019 the poles to the Arctic and Antarctic 854 01:27:40,210 --> 01:27:49,989 after a four and a half billion year 855 01:27:43,210 --> 01:27:55,359 dirty we've made it we're back home this 856 01:27:49,988 --> 01:27:57,549 is our world our time now for the first 857 01:27:55,359 --> 01:28:01,210 time we can piece together our planet's 858 01:27:57,550 --> 01:28:04,180 incredible story we can understand how 859 01:28:01,210 --> 01:28:13,779 and why everything we see around us is 860 01:28:04,180 --> 01:28:18,869 here today from the skies above us to 861 01:28:13,779 --> 01:28:18,869 water the essential ingredient for life 862 01:28:20,199 --> 01:28:23,970 the ground beneath our feet 863 01:28:27,158 --> 01:28:31,559 and finally life 864 01:28:32,260 --> 01:28:39,850 the spectacular result of a chain of 865 01:28:35,449 --> 01:28:39,849 catastrophes and coincidences 866 01:28:42,380 --> 01:28:51,699 each triumph each disaster is a step on 867 01:28:47,329 --> 01:28:51,699 the trail that leads to here 868 01:28:51,890 --> 01:28:57,850 to each and every one of us right now 869 01:28:57,948 --> 01:29:02,259 the earth story doesn't end here 870 01:29:03,158 --> 01:29:09,448 a lot has happened but there's more to 871 01:29:07,300 --> 01:29:09,449 come 872 01:29:10,159 --> 01:29:18,289 the earth will live for at least another 873 01:29:12,560 --> 01:29:20,960 four and a half billion years everything 874 01:29:18,289 --> 01:29:23,289 we've seen on our journey is only half 875 01:29:20,960 --> 01:29:23,289 the story 876 01:29:25,689 --> 01:29:32,679 just imagine what wonders what terrors 877 01:29:29,340 --> 01:29:36,900 what strange creatures lie ahead for our 878 01:29:32,680 --> 01:29:36,900 Restless creative planet 879 01:29:40,989 --> 01:29:47,789 the next chapter of Earth's story is 880 01:29:44,859 --> 01:29:47,789 still to be written 881 01:29:49,109 --> 01:29:53,339 take another epic voyage in journey 882 01:29:51,359 --> 01:29:54,329 through the Milky Way brand-new next 883 01:29:53,340 --> 01:29:59,300 Sunday at 7:00 884 01:29:54,329 --> 01:29:59,300 stay tuned for 2012 the final prophecy