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HOW DID EARTH FORM? |
Planet Earth was formed 4.6 billion years ago from the same nebula cloud of gas and dust that the Sun and the other planets were formed. However, Earth then was very different from Earth now, and it would have been impossible for life to exist on it. In fact, it is only quite recently in the Earth's 4,600,000,000 year long life that life, resembling modern-day life, has been possible, first with the dinosaurs over 200,000,000 years ago and now with humans and other animals. The Earth is still being formed now. It still has a molten centre which causes volcanoes to occasionally erupt, and plates on the surface are constantly colliding with other plates and cause earthquakes. Life was wiped off the face of the planet! It is believed that a huge meteorite or comet hit the Earth's surface, causing clouds of dust which suffocated the dinosaurs and other creatures on the planet. Conditions on the planet were suffocating as poisonous chemicals were unable to leave the planet's atmosphere, and life-giving energy from the Sun could not enter. After settling again, the Earth was suitable for life, an the ancestors of human beings developed This happened 65 millions ago. Earth is still developing. Volcanoes still erupt, the earth still shakes, weather still forms landscapes. Creatures evolve. Some die out, some develop. The creatures that die out do so because they are not suitable for the planet's current conditions. Creatures that survive and flourish do so because they are more adapted to the new conditions. |