I think of just how everything we know on Earth came to be and I am baffled by how revolutionary the various changes we call evolution are. Coming from nothing, the earth spun into the nothingness of space to become a lifeform of itself, and over time, brought to life numerous other lifeforms in what must have been a superb, progressive, and high-energy change. In essence, a revolution.
A Planet of Its Own
Four and a half billion years ago, the Earth became its own planet. When the solar system set itself up like it is today, gravity pulled swirling dust and gases to form the Earth. From just gas and dust in the nothingness of space came the earth, our home, and as far as we know, the most productive planet in our solar system.
The earth, after now becoming a planet of its own, then went through numerous changes and shifts in its landscape and on the sea. It moved and shook, with its crust blowing to pieces on top of bulging and bellowing volcanoes, all in a beautiful mess of creation.
Life
Nonetheless, the most important thing that came out of it was life. From little cells and microorganisms, came life of all kinds. Over time, the beings, plants, and all living things that gradually came into life, evolved. Evolution happened on the basis of environment and experience. When the environment demanded an adaptation, life found a way to adapt in order to survive.
Survival
Underneath all evolution was a strong intent and will to survive. That’s why all life evolved in one way or the other, to better its chances of survival. What fascinates me is that beneath all that push and pull, only one thing mattered and that thing was the being giving itself a chance to survive as long as it could.
Over time, adapting to survive as long as possible gave living things more time to flourish, evolve, and eventually find a zenith where the beings would survive, despite and in anticipation of any major environmental changes that may arise and threaten survival.
Extinction
We today talk of living things that have become extinct like the dinosaurs or the mammoths. These beings were so hardly hit by unavoidable and hard-to-anticipate factors and occurrences that they were wiped out completely. Think of the end of the ice age and how that affected the mammoths or how violent volcanic super-eruptions might have upended dinosaur life.
In the mess of evolution, some species weren’t so lucky and had to go, partly due to lacking the will or ability to evolve and adapt, and also due to unavoidable circumstances like the end of the ice age and the polar ice melting away and retreating.
Revolution
Like in all revolutions, some win and some lose. Not everyone gets to enjoy the fruits of the revolution and evolution has shown us that some beings will unavoidably fare well than others. I think of what the extinction of dinosaurs meant for their prey, for instance. The prey must have flourished after the extinction of the big guys, only to later die out themselves out of overpopulation, dwindling resources, and a partly broken food chain, and consequently, ecosystem.
Evolution, as a whole, and as per certain species, was a good thing and is what eventually led to the planet we have today. For instance, if dinosaurs survived and didn’t go extinct, we’d probably be locked out from vast swathes of the planet where the fierce beasts roam. Maybe we’d have evolved into giants instead, to have a fighting chance against such dangerous predators.
Greater Good
My point is that evolution, especially considering the species that survived and those that went extinct, had an overall good outcome, and whatever has happened all through evolution has been for the greater good. I am not saying that the extinction of any species is good; far from it. All I am saying is that however evolution plays out, it is almost always for the greater good of the planet.
The earth itself evolves as a whole, with an intent to survive and thrive. The earth is like a giant bubble that will always morph and change, trying to become what it needs to be, to continue being.
Climate Change
Maybe that’s why the climate is changing so rapidly, as a knee-jerk reaction to human activity and how, as the planet’s most capable species, we’ve failed to nurture and care for Mother Nature. Maybe climate change is Earth’s way to evolve beyond human activity and the harmful environmental practices we undertake. In essence, the earth could be mounting a revolution against human activity and our lack of environmental care, as a way to warn us that we either learn to care for the earth or end up like the dinosaurs.
Shape Up or Ship Out
What better warning is there than the raging wildfires, the melting glaciers, the excessive heatwaves? What better way is there to say “shape up or ship out” than the current signs we are getting that the earth is tired?
The earth is letting us know that it can and will evolve beyond humanity, and if we don’t go with the program, it will push us out and find a species that will actually be climate-conscious.
