On our planet there are a huge number of forms of manifestation of life. Scientists estimate that there are about 1.5 million animal species and at least 500,000 plant species on Earth. Where did these plants and animals come from? Have they always been like this? And has the planet always been the same as it is now? How did we find out what was on Earth before the appearance of man?

We know human history from written sources, historical records that have survived to this day. But after all, writing arose in 4-3 millennia BC (Egypt, Mesopotamia). And the Earth, as you know, has about 5 billion years in its age! And can everything be learned from the same written testimonies? Sometimes more than books tell ancient things found during excavations, objects used by the first person. For the historian-archaeologist this is often of decisive importance.

For geology - a science that studies the past of the planet - the earth's interior plays the role of "written documents". After all, the remnants of life have been preserved in the earth's layers, which can “tell” what this life was like not thousands, but millions of years ago. In the bowels of the Earth, one can find traces of raindrops and sea waves, the work of winds and ice. Based on rock deposits, scientists restore the contours of the sea, rivers, swamps, lakes, deserts of the distant past.
How could the remains of the organisms of the past survive to our time? Yes, even so distant from us - for millions of years?

When an organism enters a river, lake or coastal strip of the sea, it is quickly covered with silt, sand or clay. Being saturated with salts, the remains of organisms “stony”. And in this form they are found today by scientists. They can use the skeleton and other preserved parts of the animal to restore not only the appearance, but also its way of life. Modern research methods and techniques make it possible, using only one part of the skeleton (skull, jaw, leg bones) of a vertebrate, to restore the structure of its body, its closest relatives both among fossils and among modern animals.

The data of geology and paleontology (the science of fossil animals and plants) made it possible to systematize the accumulated knowledge. They became the basis for dividing the history of life on Earth into five segments, which are called eras. Each era is divided into periods, and a period is divided into epochs and centuries. In each of them, different geological events and changes in the development of wildlife took place. The most ancient is the Archean era. It began about 3.5 billion years ago and lasted 1.6 billion years. It was replaced by the Proterozoic era (beginning - 1.9 billion years ago).

The era in which we live is the youngest. It is called the Cenozoic - the era of new life. This era began 70 million years ago and continues today. This was established through the study of sedimentary rocks of the earth's crust (sand, clay, limestone, etc.). The upper layers are the youngest, and the lower, the older they are. According to the remains of organisms preserved in them, true life on Earth in remote times was established.

But to establish the exact dates, it is not enough to study the layers of the earth's crust. A kind of "geological clock" helped to create physicists and chemists. They discovered that the atoms of certain elements - uranium, thorium, radium - change all the time. This change is called "decay". This creates other elements.

Such a transformation is accompanied by radiation (release or emission of small charged particles), and the process itself is called radioactive decay. It always flows at the same speed. Different elements have different speed, and hence the time of complete decay. For example, rubidium-87 decays in about 50 billion years, uranium-238 - in 4.5 billion years. But radium - for 1590 years. Constant decay rates for each radioactive element made it possible to use them as an accurate clock for measuring the age of rocks. And to determine a shorter time, they learned to use the radiocarbon method. Indeed, in the tissues of living organisms, along with ordinary carbon (atomic weight 12), a small amount of its isotope is found. This is the same substance, but its atomic weight is 14. Its half-life is 5760 years. It was possible to verify this method by comparing it with dated archaeological sites.

Goals and objectives of the lesson:

1. To form the ability to determine the structure of a complex sentence.
2. To form the ability to place punctuation marks in a complex sentence.
3. To teach to see the synonymic possibilities of subordinate clauses.

Using a dictionary, write out synonyms for the word active. Explain the common in synonyms and the difference between them.

(Active- active, energetic Active member. Active- showing special energy, diligence in the implementation of a smth. affairs. Active nature. Vigorous– full of energy; active, active. energetic people. Initiative- possessing the initiative; enterprising, capable of independent action. Initiative person.)

Analysis of the sentences written on the board.

1. They sat in the garden where the orchestra was playing. (K. Fedin)
2. Only he is worthy of life and freedom who every day goes to fight for them. (I. W. Goethe)

The analysis is carried out according to the following plan:

1. What question does the subordinate clause answer?
2. Which word in the main clause is it?
3. How are the attributive clauses attached to the main?
4. Can there be demonstrative words in the main sentence? Are they mandatory or optional? What is the role of demonstrative words?
5. What is the place of subordinate clauses in relation to the main?

(It is necessary to focus students' attention on the functions of allied and demonstrative words. It is proved that where- allied word, it is replaced by the word garden, is a circumstance of a place, has a logical stress, it can be replaced by another allied word, it introduces a definitive meaning into the sentence with a touch of the circumstance of a place. index word volume is a definition in the main sentence, it is introduced as a means of clarification and emphasis (not any garden, but the one where the orchestra played).

The analysis of proposals according to the plan should lead to the drawing up of a diagram that reflects the structure of a complex sentence with an attributive clause:

[… dict. sl. + n.], (allied words which, which, where, where, what, who, etc.)

Then the students are given the task to talk about the relative clauses, using the material of the textbook.

5.

a) Consolidation of the concept of definitive clauses can be carried out using the exercises in the textbook.

b) Perform syntactic analysis of the 1st sentence. Chart 2nd offer.

1. The line along which the body moves is called the trajectory of motion.
2. A chemical element is a certain type of substance, all the atoms of which have the same nuclear charge.
(scientific style)

(Pay attention of students to the place of the allied word in the 2nd sentence. Clarification: if it is important to emphasize a characteristic feature, property, quality of an object or phenomenon, an attributive clause is used).

c) Performing an exercise to coordinate the allied word with defined.

Add a definitive clause to this sentence using the allied word which the in different cases.

Already several times it began to fall large, fertile rain.

1. … which is so dear to the earth yearning for it.
2. ... after which young grass grows before our eyes and new shoots stretch out.

(Attention is drawn to the difficulties of coordinating the allied word with the defined, which consist in the fact that the allied words which, whose, what are in double relation with the main sentence. They agree in gender and number with the noun of the main clause to which the subordinate clause refers, but are controlled by the verbs of the subordinate clauses (they are not controlled only when they perform the function of the subject). In addition, a subordinate clause may not begin with a union word, but with a preposition, noun or phrase).

6. Homework.

Lesson goals and objectives: to consolidate knowledge about the structure of complex sentences with attributive clauses, punctuation marks.

a) The birch trees that were just planted near the fence under him have grown and have now become tall branched trees. (A. Pushkin)

b) The small room I entered was rather dark.

(In the 1st sentence, a replacement is not possible, since it is necessary to convey a general definitive meaning. In the 2nd sentence, it is advisable to replace with an allied word where to show a spatial sign, such a union word is used by I. Turgenev).

a) Again I visited that corner of the earth where I spent two imperceptible years as an exile. (A. Pushkin)

b) For reading, we chose a book that everyone would be interested in.

(In the 1st sentence, the demonstrative word gives a shade of emphasis, and in the 2nd sentence, the demonstrative word such with union to determines the subject according to its purpose (goal).

a) What is a rhombus? b) What literary work is called a novel? c) What is a compound sentence?

3.

Analysis of sentences present in the text with subordinate clauses. Students are invited to think about why only one allied word is used in the text to attach a subordinate clause to the main one. which the.

On Earth, even before the appearance of man, events took place for millions of years that changed our planet. The seas repeatedly attacked the land, which eroded and destroyed it. The mountain ranges rising from the waters of the sea were undermined by rain and snow waters, as well as glaciers that descended from the mountain peaks. At the bottom of the seas, on islands and on the continents, volcanoes erupted molten lava, which covered vast areas, changing the face of the Earth beyond recognition.

All the changes that the globe has undergone since the formation of the earth's crust on it and up to the present time are studied by historical geology. Historical geology establishes not only events that took place over millions of years. She studies their sequence. She is interested in what was before and what is after.

Questions and tasks for the exercise:

1. What is the role of complex sentences in this text?
2. Is it possible to convey the content of the text using only simple sentences?
3. What linguistic means are used to connect the sentences in the text? Prove it's text.

The history of our planet still holds many mysteries. Scientists from various fields of natural science have contributed to the study of the development of life on Earth.

It is believed that the age of our planet is about 4.54 billion years. This entire time period is usually divided into two main stages: Phanerozoic and Precambrian. These stages are called eons or eonoteme. Eons, in turn, are divided into several periods, each of which is distinguished by a set of changes that have taken place in the geological, biological, atmospheric state of the planet.

1. Precambrian, or Cryptozoic- this is an eon (time interval of the development of the Earth), covering about 3.8 billion years. That is, the Precambrian is the development of the planet from the moment of formation, the formation of the earth's crust, the proto-ocean and the emergence of life on Earth. By the end of the Precambrian, highly organized organisms with a developed skeleton were already widespread on the planet.

The eon includes two more eonotemes - katarche and archaea. The latter, in turn, includes 4 eras.

1. Katarchaeus- this is the time of the formation of the Earth, but there was still neither the core nor the earth's crust. The planet was still a cold cosmic body. Scientists suggest that during this period there was already water on Earth. The Catarchean lasted about 600 million years.

2. Archaea covers a period of 1.5 billion years. During this period, there was no oxygen on Earth yet, deposits of sulfur, iron, graphite, and nickel were being formed. The hydrosphere and the atmosphere were a single vapor-gas shell that enveloped the globe in a dense cloud. The sun's rays practically did not penetrate through this veil, so darkness reigned on the planet. 2.1 2.1. Eoarchean- this is the first geological era, which lasted about 400 million years. The most important event of the Eoarchean is the formation of the hydrosphere. But there was still little water, the reservoirs existed separately from each other and did not yet merge into the world ocean. At the same time, the earth's crust becomes solid, although asteroids are still bombarding the Earth. At the end of the Eoarchean, the first supercontinent in the history of the planet, Vaalbara, is formed.

2.2 Paleoarchaean- the next era, which also lasted approximately 400 million years. During this period, the core of the Earth is formed, the magnetic field strength increases. A day on the planet lasted only 15 hours. But the oxygen content in the atmosphere increases due to the activity of bacteria that have appeared. The remains of these first forms of the Paleoarchean era of life have been found in Western Australia.

2.3 Mesoarchean also lasted about 400 million years. In the Mesoarchean era, our planet was covered by a shallow ocean. Land areas were small volcanic islands. But already during this period, the formation of the lithosphere begins and the mechanism of plate tectonics starts. At the end of the Mesoarchean, the first ice age occurs, during which snow and ice form for the first time on Earth. Biological species are still represented by bacteria and microbial life forms.

2.4 Neoarchean- the final era of the Archean eon, the duration of which is about 300 million years. Colonies of bacteria at this time form the first stromatolites (limestone deposits) on Earth. The most important event of the Neoarchean is the formation of oxygen photosynthesis.

II. Proterozoic- one of the longest time periods in the history of the Earth, which is usually divided into three eras. During the Proterozoic, the ozone layer first appears, the world ocean reaches almost its present volume. And after the longest Huron glaciation, the first multicellular life forms appeared on Earth - mushrooms and sponges. The Proterozoic is usually divided into three eras, each of which contained several periods.

3.1 Paleo-Proterozoic- the first era of the Proterozoic, which began 2.5 billion years ago. At this time, the lithosphere is fully formed. But the former forms of life, due to the increase in oxygen content, practically died out. This period is called the oxygen catastrophe. By the end of the era, the first eukaryotes appear on Earth.

3.2 Mesoproterozoic lasted approximately 600 million years. The most important events of this era: the formation of continental masses, the formation of the supercontinent Rodinia and the evolution of sexual reproduction.

3.3 Neo-proterozoic. During this era, Rodinia breaks up into about 8 parts, the super-ocean of Mirovia ceases to exist, and at the end of the era, the Earth is covered with ice almost to the equator. In the Neoproterozoic era, living organisms for the first time begin to acquire a hard shell, which will later serve as the basis of the skeleton.

III. Paleozoic- the first era of the Phanerozoic eon, which began approximately 541 million years ago and lasted about 289 million years. This is the era of the emergence of ancient life. The supercontinent Gondwana unites the southern continents, a little later the rest of the land joins it and Pangea appears. Climatic zones begin to form, and flora and fauna are represented mainly by marine species. Only towards the end of the Paleozoic does the development of land begin, and the first vertebrates appear.

The Paleozoic era is conditionally divided into 6 periods.

1. Cambrian period lasted 56 million years. During this period, the main rocks are formed, the mineral skeleton appears in living organisms. And the most important event of the Cambrian is the appearance of the first arthropods.

2. Ordovician period- the second period of the Paleozoic, which lasted 42 million years. This is the era of the formation of sedimentary rocks, phosphorites and oil shale. The organic world of the Ordovician is represented by marine invertebrates and blue-green algae.

3. Silurian period covers the next 24 million years. At this time, almost 60% of living organisms that existed before die out. But the first cartilaginous and bone fish in the history of the planet appear. On land, the Silurian is marked by the appearance of vascular plants. Supercontinents converge and form Laurasia. By the end of the period, ice melting was noted, the sea level rose, and the climate became milder.

4 Devonian is characterized by the rapid development of various forms of life and the development of new ecological niches. Devon covers a time interval of 60 million years. The first terrestrial vertebrates, spiders, and insects appear. Land animals develop lungs. Although fish still dominate. The kingdom of flora of this period is represented by ferns, horsetails, club mosses and gosperms.

5. Carboniferous period often referred to as carbon. At this time, Laurasia collides with Gondwana and the new supercontinent Pangea appears. A new ocean is also formed - Tethys. This is the time when the first amphibians and reptiles appeared.

6. Permian period- the last period of the Paleozoic, which ended 252 million years ago. It is believed that at this time a large asteroid fell to Earth, which led to significant climate change and the extinction of almost 90% of all living organisms. Most of the land is covered with sand, the most extensive deserts appear that have only existed in the entire history of the Earth's development.

IV. Mesozoic- the second era of the Phanerozoic eon, which lasted almost 186 million years. At this time, the continents acquire almost modern outlines. A warm climate contributes to the rapid development of life on Earth. Giant ferns disappear, and angiosperms appear to replace them. The Mesozoic is the era of dinosaurs and the appearance of the first mammals.

The Mesozoic era is divided into three periods: Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous.

1. Triassic period lasted a little over 50 million years. At this time, Pangea begins to split, and the inland seas gradually become smaller and dry up. The climate is mild, the zones are not pronounced. Nearly half of land plants are disappearing as deserts spread. And in the realm of fauna, the first warm-blooded and terrestrial reptiles appear, which became the ancestors of dinosaurs and birds.

2 Jurassic covers a gap of 56 million years. A humid and warm climate reigned on Earth. The land is covered with thickets of ferns, pines, palms, cypresses. Dinosaurs reign on the planet, and numerous mammals have so far been distinguished by their small stature and thick hair.

3 Cretaceous- the longest period of the Mesozoic, lasting almost 79 million years. The split of the continents is practically coming to an end, the Atlantic Ocean is significantly increasing in volume, and ice sheets are forming at the poles. An increase in the water mass of the oceans leads to the formation of a greenhouse effect. At the end of the Cretaceous, a catastrophe occurs, the causes of which are still not clear. As a result, all dinosaurs and most species of reptiles and gymnosperms became extinct.

V. Cenozoic- this is the era of animals and Homo sapiens, which began 66 million years ago. The continents at this time acquired their modern shape, Antarctica occupied the south pole of the Earth, and the oceans continued to grow. Plants and animals that survived the catastrophe of the Cretaceous period found themselves in a completely new world. Unique communities of lifeforms began to form on each continent.

The Cenozoic era is divided into three periods: Paleogene, Neogene and Quaternary.

1. Paleogene period ended approximately 23 million years ago. At that time, a tropical climate reigned on Earth, Europe was hiding under evergreen tropical forests, and deciduous trees grew only in the north of the continents. It was during the Paleogene period that the rapid development of mammals takes place.

2. Neogene period covers the next 20 million years of the planet's development. Whales and bats appear. And, although saber-toothed tigers and mastodons still roam the earth, the fauna is increasingly acquiring modern features.

3. Quaternary period began more than 2.5 million years ago and continues to this day. Two major events characterize this time period: the Ice Age and the advent of man. The Ice Age completely completed the formation of the climate, flora and fauna of the continents. And the appearance of man marked the beginning of civilization.

And would it be the same as it is today, if we did not exist at all?

Imagine for a moment that the last 125,000 years of Earth's history are recorded somewhere on tape—a thin, old-fashioned tape tucked between two metal spools. With each second, a certain amount of film is unwound from one cassette and wound onto another. Now imagine that there is an opportunity to stop the film, intervene in this process and change the direction of movement. We do a rewind.

Gradually, with each new turn of the reel, our current reality is removed. An area of ​​natural forests and woodland the size of 10 football fields is being restored every minute. During each year, an area slightly larger than Denmark is again covered with forest. It takes only 150 years to rewind everything that was lost. At the same time, the clusters of cities are receding like a concrete mass. Mega-cities shrink to the size of ordinary cities, then shrink to the level of villages and villages, and after that green swaths of untouched and uncultivated land reappear. Existing rivers are freed from dams. The ozone layer is being restored. The remains of an estimated 108 billion people who lived on the planet are being removed from the earth, and fossil fuels, precious stones and metals, and other mined minerals are returned to their original place. Tons of garbage polluting the planet, including sulfur dioxide and carbon, are sucked out of the atmosphere.

Finally, we find ourselves at a point that seems unthinkably far from us - 125 thousand years ago. In geological terms, this may feel like yesterday, but the length of time between then and now represents the entirety of human existence on the planet. By rewinding the tape back to this point, we have eliminated virtually all traces of human impact on the Earth. And what happened?

125,000 years ago, the Earth was in the middle of the Eemian interglacial, which lasted 15,000 years and was a temperature phase between longer and colder ice ages. Suddenly the whole world became warm and green. In the northern hemisphere, continental snow cover has receded south almost to the level of Germany in Europe and Illinois in North America.

“Then it was a little warmer than it is today, and the sea level may have been a little higher and at its maximum,” emphasizes Ian Tattersall, curator of anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History in the City of New York ( American Museum of Natural History).

One of the beneficiaries of this warming has been Homo sapiens- a reasonable person. Our species first appeared about 200 thousand years ago in eastern Africa, 125 thousand years ago the population of this species was probably somewhere between 10-100 thousand individuals. They earned their own food, hunted and made the first raids, leaving the homes of their ancestors.

However, we were not alone. “At that time, there were at least three lines of hominids,” notes Tattersall, an expert in early human evolution. - In Africa there was a reasonable man ( Homo sapiens); Homo erectus settled in the eastern part of Asia ( Homo erectus), which subsequently became extinct; and Neanderthals lived in Europe.”

Other members of the human race, both unknown and partially known to us, struggled to survive in other parts of the planet. “No one knows what happened in Africa,” Tattersall said. “There were hominids in Africa that looked very different from modern Homo sapiens.”

Large animals also abounded in the world—whales in the ocean and gigantic herds of herbivores on land. “I think that if it were possible to teleport to that world, then you would immediately pay attention to the megafauna,” emphasizes environmental historian Jed Kaplan from the Interdisciplinary Department of Environmental Studies at the University of Geneva in Switzerland (University of Geneva "s Institute for Environmental Sciences). - You would find huge herds of animals moving around the world. There would be woolly mammoths that inhabited the Arctic. And you would undoubtedly be able to see bison. In Europe, you could find large cats, and in America there would probably be a lot of horses, and also a large number of bears, wolves, and also a lot of herd animals.

Going beyond nature

But then, without any warning, everything changed. Or, to be precise, human beings first changed, and then the same thing happened to the outside world. “Something terrible happened right at the moment when people began to behave in a modern way, and this began 100,000 years ago,” says Tattersall. “And it was at that time that human beings, in a certain sense, went beyond nature, found themselves in opposition to it, and began to do all the stupid things that we are very familiar with today.”

Reading the list of stupid things Tattersall talks about is sobering. In just 2,000 years before the birth of Christ, the world population was several tens of millions. In 1700, after the birth of Christ, there were already 600 million people on the planet; and today their number is slightly more than 7 billion and continues to increase, according to experts, by 220 thousand people a day. And that's just human beings. According to the FAO, the global cattle population is 1.4 billion, and in addition, at any given time, there are about a billion more pigs and sheep, as well as 19 billion chickens, that is, almost three for every person.

According to the data we have, we use more energy today than ever before. In the 20th century alone, its consumption increased 16 times. Since 1870, an estimated 944 billion barrels of oil, or 135 billion tons, have been extracted from the Earth's interior, according to a 2009 article in the International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology. In 2011 alone, the United States produced more than a billion tons of coal, and China - 3 times more.

We have also radically changed the landscape. Agriculture, coupled with the use of fire almost everywhere, subjugated the environment and gave it a different form. In many regions, cultivated land has replaced natural vegetation. From 30% to 50% of the earth's surface is currently used in one way or another for the benefit of man, and we consume more than half of the available fresh water.

Especially rice production has flattened all ecosystems. “People are creating small dams,” said Earle Ellis, an environmental specialist at the University of Maryland. “And it changes the whole sediment movement in the river basins. The goal is to create wetlands suitable for rice cultivation in many places. As a result, a large number of areas have become flatter. It makes an impression."

There are very few places left in the modern world that look the way they would if there were no human intervention at all. “There are very few landscapes left untouched, especially in Europe,” says Kaplan. - There are practically no forests left where you could see large dead trees just lying on the ground. It's incredibly rare."

Just from the moment when man began to oppose himself to still preserved nature, people spread throughout the world like seeds driven by gusts of wind, and as a result, about 125 thousand years ago they settled in the Middle East, 50 thousand years ago - in South Asia , 43 thousand years ago - in Europe, 40 thousand years ago - in Australia and in both Americas in the period from 30 thousand to 15 thousand years ago. The last intensively populated territory was New Zealand, and this happened about 700 years ago.

Everywhere people went, they brought animals with them - some deliberately (dogs, cats, pigs), and others accidentally (rats). The introduction of alien animal species into a delicately balanced ecosystem can have serious and irreversible consequences, says Ellis, especially for rats: “Their impact on the ecosystem is very large. All living creatures that create nests for themselves on the ground or in any other place accessible to rats are doomed.”

Of course, we ourselves are effective killers. As you know, many species of animals were exterminated as a result of hunting or persecution, and the dodos are the most famous example in this regard (their last confirmed sighting was recorded in 1662). Also vanished: Steller's sea cows (1768), nilgai antelope (about 1800), Mauritian blue dove (1826), flightless auk (1852), sea mink (about 1860), Falkland wolf (1876), passenger pigeon (1914), and also Caribbean monk seal (1952). Many other species have also disappeared in our memory. Human beings are marching on the planet, and behind them, one after another, waves roll in, exterminating megafauna. The reasons for this are still being debated, but many are pointing the finger at us. “I actually believe that human beings contributed to the extinction of numerous species of megafauna,” notes Kaplan.

So, for example, 15 thousand years ago, human beings penetrated through Siberia to North America. “An unprecedented period of extermination has begun,” said Bill Ruddiman, climate scientist at the University of Virginia. “For this, something completely new was needed, and this new one turned out to be human beings.”

“The American West, the plains there, had a diversity that was much richer than what today is the Serengeti National Park (Serengeti), — says Ruddiman. “It was an amazing place. In addition to mammoths and mastodons, saber-toothed tigers, horses, camels, giant ground sloths lived there - all these species became extinct within a fairly short period of time. The most reliable evidence suggests that this happened about 15,000 years ago.”

Today, the vast—and mostly empty—spaces of the American West are vastly different from what they looked like 125,000 years ago.

The destruction of large animals by humans has had an impact on the landscape, which is noticeable almost everywhere. “Wide spaces used to be semi-open, they became so as a result of the existence of a large number of grazing animals that feed on grass and branches, as well as predators,” says Kaplan. — It is important to remember that landscapes are also shaped by animals. Huge herds of bison trampled down small trees and thus left the space open - of course, not to the same extent as the man who used the fire, but this influence was undoubtedly noticeable.

water world

In addition, we have devastated the oceans. A study published in 2010 found that the United Kingdom's fishing fleet today has to work 17 times as hard as it did in the 1880s to catch the same amount of fish. FAO estimates that more than half of the world's coastal fish resources are overfished.

Whaling has also changed the oceans beyond recognition. During the 20th century, some species of whales were on the verge of extinction, and their populations have not yet been restored. A controversial study published in the journal Science claims that the whale population was significantly larger before they were hunted than previously thought. According to this study, there were once 1.5 million humpback whales in the world, and not 100,000, as experts from the International Whaling Commission believe. The same can be said about minke whales, polar whales and sperm whales.

We have also changed the climate. In May of this year, the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for the first time in millions of years exceeded 400 ppm; 125 thousand years ago, its content was 275 ppm. This increase is partly due to the use of fossil fuels, as well as a decrease in the number of forests, which for millions of years served as a virtually bottomless carbon sink.

This impact left a noticeable imprint on the ice on our planet. All over the world, glaciers began to shrink, and in some places they disappeared altogether. The US National Snow and Ice Data Center, organized at the University of Colorado in Boulder, monitors approximately 130,000 glaciers around the world. Some of them are increasing, but much more are decreasing. In general, we can say that for every glacier that increases in size, there are at least 10 shrinking ones. At the time of its creation in 1910, Montana Glacier National Park had 150 glaciers. Today their number does not exceed 30, and they have all shrunk in size. In 2009, the Chacaltaya glacier in Bolivia disappeared, and at one time it was the highest place in the world where ski lifts were located. The ice cover in the polar latitudes is being destroyed, and ice floes the size of a city are breaking off from it. In July of this year, a 30-kilometer crack in a glacier called "Pine Island" (Pine Island glacier) in Antarctica led to the formation of an iceberg the size of New York.

As a result of rewinding the tape of time, all traces of human influence on planet Earth disappear. And now, just for fun, let's play another game - remove the reasonable man altogether. Imagine that 125,000 years ago, a small number of our ancestors in eastern Africa were wiped out by some kind of catastrophe - a deadly virus or maybe a natural disaster. And now let's fast forward the tape. What would our planet look like today if there were no modern human beings on it?

In some respects, the answer seems obvious: it would look much the same as it did 125,000 years ago. “We would have a continuously existing biosphere, and it would be such that it is even difficult for us to imagine. That is, there would be forests, savannahs and the like - and so on the entire surface of the planet, - emphasizes Jan Zalasiewicz, a geologist from the University of Leicester, located in the United Kingdom. No roads, no fields. No cities. Nothing of that sort." Large animals would exist in abundance on Earth, and whales and fish would be abundant in the seas.

However, this could not continue for a long time, Ruddiman believes. If human beings had died out 125,000 years ago, we would be entering a new ice age today. Glaciers would increase their size and move forward. In itself, this is a controversial idea, and Ruddiman has been criticized for it. However, today, ten years after he first expressed it, many climatologists agree with him.

“If you remove the human impact, there will be much more ice in the seas, and the tundra in the Arctic Circle will also increase in area,” he notes. “Boreal forests would retreat and, most importantly, ice cover would increase in many northern regions—in the northern Rocky Mountains, in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, in parts of northern Siberia. These are the earliest stages of the Ice Age. And that's the single most significant change."

Or maybe things would have turned out differently. It is possible that another human species, for example, Neanderthals, Homo erectus, or some hitherto unknown species, could take our place, and it would begin to determine everything that happens on the planet instead of us.

Tattersall doubts. “Having established themselves on Earth, would they follow our example? he asks. “Would they become a substitute for a reasonable person, which would indicate the existence of a certain kind of inevitability regarding what happened to us? I think it's unlikely."

However, there is an excellent counterargument to this.

“There’s also the concept of convergent evolution, which is that if we hadn’t come in and done it, someone else would have done it,” says David Grinspoon, curator of astrobiology at the Museum. nature and science in Denver, Colorado. “In that case, there would be selective pressure on other species that would push towards the path of development that we have taken, and where there is feedback between big brains, language and abstract thinking, as well as the development of agriculture. If the scenario is literally such that Homo sapiens dies out and the overall landscape remains, then perhaps something similar would happen. It wouldn't be exactly the same because there's a lot of randomness and it would probably take longer."

In short, all of this would have happened anyway. Perhaps the formation of the modern version of the Earth and our place on it was inevitable. Delete Homo sapiens out of this equation, restore forests and megafauna, and then maybe in 100 thousand years we will again get the same result - our greatest works, our achievements and our mistakes. Or at least something similar.

“I would like to have a magic crystal or some kind of alternative world viewfinder,” Grinspoon admits. “It would be great to know.”

"Elder race" - this is the name of the mythical predecessors of the current people who existed on Earth long before the dinosaurs and apes, as well as with them and even after them. Representatives of this race could find "our" people, to whom they could partially transfer knowledge and skills. About this incredibly developed and technologically advanced race, the legends of almost all the peoples of the world tell.

Mysterious find - direct evidence of the existence of the "older race"

About 10 years ago, in the Alps, in the permafrost, the corpse of a man was discovered, which was relatively well preserved. Scientists have determined that the deceased was no more than forty years old. They were especially surprised by the age of the remains. An unknown man froze to death several thousand years ago.

The clothes and shoes of the deceased could not be identified. He did not belong to any known people who theoretically could exist in that area once. The appearance of the man was unnaturally perfect: clear and harmonious proportions, surprisingly regular facial features (later determined using computer modeling), no flaws. When scientists examined his bones, the version regarding his age was confirmed. The man really was 40 years old, but the most surprising thing is that his body at this age corresponded to the body of a teenage boy. His bones were in the process of formation, like the current teenager at 16 years old. Thus, a 40-year-old man had to “grow up” only at 100 years old. After the news about the find spread in the scientific community, scientists became interested in the ancient legends about the "older race".

People with stunning, perfect looks

Legends and myths of various peoples of the world describe the "older race" almost identically, which is alarming. The "senior" differed from us, first of all, in height: they were much taller, or shorter than modern people. Some legends describe them as dwarfs - elves and so on. Others are like statuesque giants, fair-haired and very strong. In any case, they are credited with an ideal appearance: harmonious proportions, unearthly beauty, harmony, and so on.

Some legends claim that the "elders" lived up to 500 years. Others say that they never died a natural death at all. By the way, representatives of the "older race" were born extremely rarely, and most often after a certain "miracle", which could well be artificial insemination.

The "older race" caught people. The first people idolized her, treated her representatives with respect and accuracy. The "elder" settled in places inaccessible to the average person - in the mountains, caves, inside hollow hills, in forests and on secluded islands. Representatives of the super race were able to produce various things of excellent quality. For example, legends about elves say that they were skilled weavers. In absolutely all myths, the "older race" has magical powers.

Contacts with our race - "Slavic divas"

The Slavs also talked about the "senior". They were called "divas", "samodivs" and "samovils". This name comes from the word "divo", which means "miracle". Unfortunately, before the advent of Christianity, the Slavs did not write down their legends, but transmitted them orally, so very little information about the "divas" has survived to this day.

It is known that the "divas" were incredibly beautiful. The fair sex of this race always had long hair to the toes, which they never tied. "Divas" built their houses in the trees, or high in the mountains. They mastered levitation, but for some reason sometimes lost this ability. For example, in the "Tale of Igor's Campaign" there is an excerpt "the divas will crash into the ground." This probably means that during the flight a certain "div" lost his balance and fell.

"Divas" treated people, predicted events, found water underground with the help of their magical talents, and were excellent artisans. They were not immortal, but they never died by their own death.

One of the real last mentions of "divas" refers to the twenties of the last century. At that time, the famous traveler Mikhail Belov explored the most inaccessible regions of the Urals. After talking with the locals, he learned that they deeply believe in the "divas", who allegedly still live in mountain caves that are inaccessible to the average person. Sometimes "divas" come to villages and talk about what is happening in the world. The traveler at first laughed at the "grandmother's tales", but then abruptly changed his mind when he found out that the locals, being completely isolated from civilization, know completely everything about Russia: the main news, recent events, and so on. By the way, in that village there was no radio, no televisions, no electricity.

Material evidence

A very ancient bowl is kept in one of the museums in England. Its reliable age could not be determined, but it is known that in those days people did not have the technologies that would allow it to be produced. The thicket was made around the 12th century. An interesting legend is associated with it:

A certain peasant, returning home, heard beautiful singing and saw an open door. Approaching her, he looked into the house in which the singers were. They were very nice and friendly. The peasant was invited to his table, serving him an intoxicating drink in the same bowl. After the bowl was presented to the peasant. It was taken from him by the lord he served. For several decades, it was inherited, and then ended up in a museum.

Another amazing find was found on the territory of Ukraine. Bones for divination were found there, the age of which is 17 thousand years. Someone put a lunar calendar on them with jewelry accuracy. The tribes of nomads living at that time on the territory of Ukraine did not have the slightest idea about space.

Who are they - the "older race" and why did they leave our planet

Specialists studying the above findings are building a variety of theories as to who the representatives of the "older race" were. There is a theory that these were ordinary people who at one time began to develop separately from the bulk of the planet's population. They retired with nature, thanks to which they received their superpowers.

However, there is another theory. As you know, Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons turned out to be completely different types of living creatures. Perhaps the "older race" consisted of other "people" - more developed, devoid of diseases and various genetic abnormalities. Because of this, their appearance seemed ideal to our people.

Scientist E. Deniken, who created the film "Memories of the Future", believes that the "older race" are aliens, which may be creatures who lived before us and left our planet at one time, and then returned again, but partially. He also admits that these creatures could appear from the marriages of ancient people with aliens.

Starting from the 17th and 18th centuries, the "older race" was no longer mentioned at all. Thus, it can be assumed that this people disappeared somewhere from our planet. Some legends tell about the mythical country "Avalon", to which all the "elders" supposedly went. Scientists, in turn, explain everything much more simply: the “elders” could merge with our people, since they were not able to maintain their originality due to the extremely low birth rate. In addition, it is generally accepted that the "senior" came to us from parallel worlds. They continue to exist there, but for some reason they no longer want to contact us.