Prologue
From the infinite depths of space, it appeared as but a marble in a sea of black. It was surrounded by tiny dots of light, dimmed by their unfathomable distance. It was a lonely object in such a large universe. It had only one, barren, satellite. There were other large and colorful objects near it, but they were just as lifeless as its satellite.
It was mostly blue, with hazes of white clouds appearing every once in awhile. There were some areas that were brown and green, indicating dry land, but these constituted far less of its surface than the dark blue of the oceans. It was beautiful to see in comparison to the black that bathed it in every direction. The depths of blue reflected the close light of the sun that heated the entire system of objects in its general vicinity.
A small, meaningless object in the middle of a place filled with small, meaningless objects. However, it held one distinction from most of these objects. The beautiful, sparkling blue oceans that covered so much of its surface. These vast expanses of water were what made this one object so unique. Because this object held more than just rock and sediment within its influence. It held more than just vast oceans within its influence. It held life.
And life had indeed flourished. It actually began in those very oceans, although in their primordial form when they were a strange ooze of various material. The first organisms to form survived without oxygen. Oxygen was absent from the air on the primitive planet during the early days of life. It would be soon, however, when oxygen would become crucial.
These early heterotrophic organisms fed off of the nutritional material that had saturated the water in which they had formed. This vast supply eventually ran out, however, and life had to adapt to its loss of easy nutrition. And as it always does, life evolved. The evolution of early autotrophic plant life was a major turning point in the history of life.
Not only did these early organisms produce their own food from the massive energy of the Sun, but they also created oxygen as a waste product. As more and more of these organisms developed, more and more oxygen mixed into the air of the early planet. The advent of oxygen-breathing organisms was near.
Oxygen-breathing organisms began in the water just as their extremely primitive ancestors had. However, these aquatic creatures would soon evolve to the point that they could take their first fateful steps onto the dry land of their planet. Land organisms began to grow in number and diversity, and the miraculous ability of life to evolve began to show even more clearly.
Eventually, five groups of distinct organisms grew from the primitive ancestry. The monerans, or bacteria, remained primitive, although they diversified a great deal. The protists were a bundle of very different organisms that had developed characteristics of other groups but did not quite fit the definitions of those groups. The plants continued to flourish and build on their capability of producing their own food. They also replenished the oxygen supply that was used by the more complex organisms that relied on the gas for life. The fungi also diversified greatly, becoming advanced but stationary ground feeders.
The fifth and most complex group was the animal kingdom. Animals were far more advanced than their cousins. The most advanced of the animals had developed nervous systems and the ability to learn and adapt to their surroundings. They had developed the ability to consciously hunt down and eat other organisms for nourishment. They had also, by the ways of nature, learned to live in balance with their surroundings. This would change in a short time, though.
Only a mere millisecond ago in geological time, the first human beings began to form from their primate ancestry. The human race was the most complex organism to ever have been born of the planet. It had remarkable learning capabilities. It understood its surroundings far better than its cousins. It had developed something much more important than that, however. Its primate cousins had developed it somewhat, but not well enough for it to be practical. The human race had developed communication.
Communication made the survival of a physically weak race a possibility. It allowed two people to share their experiences and explain their knowledge to others. It made hunting easy, even though humans really had no natural extensions to help them with hunting. At first, early humans were nomadic, traveling at all times and always living off of the land. Later, however, humans would learn to settle in one place and domesticate other organisms for the sole purpose of providing food.
Over an extremely short period of time the human race grew in leaps and bounds in its understanding and knowledge of the world to which they had been born. Humans developed cities, in which a revolutionary idea came to play. The people who cultivated the land still actually made the food that they ate. But the people within the city ate food which they had not actually hunted for or grown themselves. This freed them up for leisure, but most importantly, thinking.
Leisure time meant new ideas, and new ideas meant new inventions. The human race developed a penchant for making survival easier by creating useful objects. Technology became a second thought for the average human. Humans conquered the seas, and brought the entire world together. Mobile communication technologies made it just as easy to talk to someone across the world as it was to talk to someone next door. Humans conquered the air, and brought the world even closer together. Human beings had done something that no other organism could possible do: unite the entire race from around the world for a common cause.
Technological achievements came at a price, however. Technological devices used power, and power had to be taken from the land. The one thing that humans had never learned to do the way other animals had was to live in balance with nature. Huge power plants were built to reap the benefits of the planet to fuel the exponentially evolving technology. Humans had only learned to take from the planet. They had never learned to give back. The natural resources of the planet that had once seemed infinite suddenly seemed small.
And so the human race had reached its apex. They had developed to the point at which they could not develop any farther: their requirements were too much for the planet to handle. The human race had raped its birthplace of its essence, and had in so doing destroyed its chances of a long-term existence on the planet.
In a mere second of the time that the planet had existed, one group of organisms had managed to destroy so much of what nature had given them. The course of nature had been permanently curbed, and the future looked decidedly grim. On this small object floating in space, the most complex of organisms had reached the point at which it could no longer support itself. A revolution of nature had taken place on this small, meaningless, endlessly spinning object which we call Earth.
From the infinite depths of space, it appeared as but a marble in a sea of black. It was surrounded by tiny dots of light, dimmed by their unfathomable distance. It was a lonely object in such a large universe. It had only one, barren, satellite. There were other large and colorful objects near it, but they were just as lifeless as its satellite.
It was mostly blue, with hazes of white clouds appearing every once in awhile. There were some areas that were brown and green, indicating dry land, but these constituted far less of its surface than the dark blue of the oceans. It was beautiful to see in comparison to the black that bathed it in every direction. The depths of blue reflected the close light of the sun that heated the entire system of objects in its general vicinity.
A small, meaningless object in the middle of a place filled with small, meaningless objects. However, it held one distinction from most of these objects. The beautiful, sparkling blue oceans that covered so much of its surface. These vast expanses of water were what made this one object so unique. Because this object held more than just rock and sediment within its influence. It held more than just vast oceans within its influence. It held life.
And life had indeed flourished. It actually began in those very oceans, although in their primordial form when they were a strange ooze of various material. The first organisms to form survived without oxygen. Oxygen was absent from the air on the primitive planet during the early days of life. It would be soon, however, when oxygen would become crucial.
These early heterotrophic organisms fed off of the nutritional material that had saturated the water in which they had formed. This vast supply eventually ran out, however, and life had to adapt to its loss of easy nutrition. And as it always does, life evolved. The evolution of early autotrophic plant life was a major turning point in the history of life.
Not only did these early organisms produce their own food from the massive energy of the Sun, but they also created oxygen as a waste product. As more and more of these organisms developed, more and more oxygen mixed into the air of the early planet. The advent of oxygen-breathing organisms was near.
Oxygen-breathing organisms began in the water just as their extremely primitive ancestors had. However, these aquatic creatures would soon evolve to the point that they could take their first fateful steps onto the dry land of their planet. Land organisms began to grow in number and diversity, and the miraculous ability of life to evolve began to show even more clearly.
Eventually, five groups of distinct organisms grew from the primitive ancestry. The monerans, or bacteria, remained primitive, although they diversified a great deal. The protists were a bundle of very different organisms that had developed characteristics of other groups but did not quite fit the definitions of those groups. The plants continued to flourish and build on their capability of producing their own food. They also replenished the oxygen supply that was used by the more complex organisms that relied on the gas for life. The fungi also diversified greatly, becoming advanced but stationary ground feeders.
The fifth and most complex group was the animal kingdom. Animals were far more advanced than their cousins. The most advanced of the animals had developed nervous systems and the ability to learn and adapt to their surroundings. They had developed the ability to consciously hunt down and eat other organisms for nourishment. They had also, by the ways of nature, learned to live in balance with their surroundings. This would change in a short time, though.
Only a mere millisecond ago in geological time, the first human beings began to form from their primate ancestry. The human race was the most complex organism to ever have been born of the planet. It had remarkable learning capabilities. It understood its surroundings far better than its cousins. It had developed something much more important than that, however. Its primate cousins had developed it somewhat, but not well enough for it to be practical. The human race had developed communication.
Communication made the survival of a physically weak race a possibility. It allowed two people to share their experiences and explain their knowledge to others. It made hunting easy, even though humans really had no natural extensions to help them with hunting. At first, early humans were nomadic, traveling at all times and always living off of the land. Later, however, humans would learn to settle in one place and domesticate other organisms for the sole purpose of providing food.
Over an extremely short period of time the human race grew in leaps and bounds in its understanding and knowledge of the world to which they had been born. Humans developed cities, in which a revolutionary idea came to play. The people who cultivated the land still actually made the food that they ate. But the people within the city ate food which they had not actually hunted for or grown themselves. This freed them up for leisure, but most importantly, thinking.
Leisure time meant new ideas, and new ideas meant new inventions. The human race developed a penchant for making survival easier by creating useful objects. Technology became a second thought for the average human. Humans conquered the seas, and brought the entire world together. Mobile communication technologies made it just as easy to talk to someone across the world as it was to talk to someone next door. Humans conquered the air, and brought the world even closer together. Human beings had done something that no other organism could possible do: unite the entire race from around the world for a common cause.
Technological achievements came at a price, however. Technological devices used power, and power had to be taken from the land. The one thing that humans had never learned to do the way other animals had was to live in balance with nature. Huge power plants were built to reap the benefits of the planet to fuel the exponentially evolving technology. Humans had only learned to take from the planet. They had never learned to give back. The natural resources of the planet that had once seemed infinite suddenly seemed small.
And so the human race had reached its apex. They had developed to the point at which they could not develop any farther: their requirements were too much for the planet to handle. The human race had raped its birthplace of its essence, and had in so doing destroyed its chances of a long-term existence on the planet.
In a mere second of the time that the planet had existed, one group of organisms had managed to destroy so much of what nature had given them. The course of nature had been permanently curbed, and the future looked decidedly grim. On this small object floating in space, the most complex of organisms had reached the point at which it could no longer support itself. A revolution of nature had taken place on this small, meaningless, endlessly spinning object which we call Earth.