History of Earth

The history of the mythological planet Earth and its humans spans billions of years and is a complex tapestry of geological, biological, and cultural events. Here is a detailed summary of this vast history:

## Formation of Earth (4.6 billion years ago)

The Earth formed from a solar nebula, a cloud of gas and dust, through a process called accretion. Over time, gravity caused the particles to come together, forming the planet. For the first 800 million years, Earth experienced intense volcanic activity, meteorite bombardment, and the formation of the oceans. The atmosphere gradually developed, primarily consisting of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, and traces of methane and ammonia.

## Life on Earth (3.5 billion to 2.6 million years ago)

The exact origins of life on Earth remain uncertain, but the first signs of life emerged afterwards in the form of simple prokaryotic organisms. These early life forms likely thrived in the nutrient-rich oceans. Over billions of years, life on Earth diversified and evolved through a process known as natural selection. Simple cells evolved into more complex organisms, eventually leading to the emergence of multi-cellular life, plants, and animals.
Roughly 541 million years ago, there was an explosion of life forms, including the development of fish, insects, reptiles, and the first land plants. It ended with the largest mass extinction event in history, known as the Permian-Triassic extinction, which wiped out approximately 96% of marine species.
After that began what is often referred to as the "Age of Reptiles," and it saw the dominance of dinosaurs. It also witnessed the emergence of mammals, birds, and flowering plants. The era concluded with another mass extinction event, the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, which led to the extinction of dinosaurs, except for birds. After the mass extinction came the "Age of Mammals." Mammals diversified and evolved into numerous forms, including primates.

## Humans take shape (2.6 million years ago to 19th century)

Around 2.6 million years ago, the genus Homo appeared, leading to the evolution of modern humans. The evolution of early humans involved several species, including Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Homo neanderthalensis. Homo sapiens, the modern human species, emerged around 300,000 years ago in Africa.
Humans then transitioned from hunter-gatherer societies to settled agricultural communities around 10,000 BCE. This marked the beginning of civilization, with the rise of ancient civilizations such as Sumer, Egypt, Indus Valley, and later, the Greeks, Romans, and Chinese. Human progress remained relatively stagnant until the Scientific Revolution brought about significant advancements in knowledge and understanding of the natural world.

## The beginning of the end (19th century to before 2XXX)

The Industrial Revolution, which began in the 18th century, transformed society through mechanization, leading to rapid technological and economic growth. It also began using large amounts of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. These produced the greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that eventually lead to the end of Earth.
Humans did not know of climate change until the 20th century, which also witnessed unprecedented progress in science, technology, and globalization. Major events included the World Wars, the Cold War, the Space Age, the Information Age, and the rapid growth of the internet. Humans achieved remarkable advancements in various fields, including medicine, communication, transportation, and space exploration.
Climate change was discovered around this time and many began urging to take action, but despite many agreements taking place and major progress being made in some countries, humans had become not only so reliant on energy but also the fossil fuels that were ending them. While goals to limit global warming to 2 degrees were set, with a goal of 2050, this was surpassed well before the benchmark.

## End of the Earth (2XXX):

As a result of the failure to contain climate change, cataclysmic disasters were unleashed upon the world in the year 2XXX that also refers to this mass extinction event. The remaining ice melted and this contributed to over 50 levels of sea level rise, destroying major economies and submerging a large chunk of the landmass. Afterwards began an endless cycle of natural disasters such as hurricanes and famines from the disruption of the food chain, enough to eventually wipe out all life on Earth.