What is the Planet's Point of View?

 

“Viewed from the distance of the moon, the astonishing thing about the earth, catching the breath, is that it is alive… It has the organised, self-contained look of a live creature, full of information, marvellously skilled in handling the sun.” — Lewis Thomas, Lives of a Cell

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This earth, this piece of rock that we call home, is much more than a piece of rock.  It has energy, reaching the surface of the earth via volcanoes.  It has water, which is constantly moving, driven by thermohaline currents, and its moon’s gravity.  It has tectonic plates, which crash into each other and pull away from each other in a state of constant movement.  It has gases, especially methane, ammonia, nitrogen , and carbon dioxide, and more latterly oxygen.  And finally it has energy from its star, the sun.  173000 terrawatts reach the earth continuously. The earth’s atmosphere, oceans and land absorb the sun’s radiation, but to maintain a constant temperature, a similar amount is reflected back into space.

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This rock, then, has so much. But there is another factor that makes it really special.  From about half a billion years into its existence, it has life. 

 

It is this life, from single celled bacteria to complex vegetation and animal life, which I shall take as the collective view of the planet.  No individual life will take precedence.  They are all vital in this collective view.  Rather like termites, which are helpless on their own, but together can build mighty edifices.

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Home - click here

The Beginnings of Life on Earth - click here

The First Big Advance - Cyanobacteria - click here

Fabulous Fungi - click here

Vegetation - click here

Insects - click here

Earthworms - click here

Birds - click here

Mammals, including humans - click here

Water based life - click here

The Calculus - click here