How Life Saves the Planet

Biology Created the Earth


Around 3.8 billion years ago living cells appeared on Earth. Basic elements and molecules such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, minerals, water and many others, thanks to energy from the Sun, began assembling themselves into more and more complex structures. Unlike most planets in the universe, Earth became a planet that was just right for life. Life settled in and began the long road to building a planet for its own benefit.

Earth and Mercury

Life has built everything from massive limestone cliffs to coral reefs, to the soils that grow food, to the oxygen atmosphere that makes today’s extraordinarily biodiverse world possible.

For a force that powerful, restoring a stable climate is well within the realm of the possible.

In the Beginning . . .

Life started out small, but with huge potential for discovery and evolution. There have been countless varieties of microbes and they invented almost all of the biochemistry that brought the dizzying numbers of complex cells, organs and species into existence. Species come and go over millions of years and roughly 99% of all species that ever existed are extinct.

Microbes

Emiliania huxleyii – a single-celled plant with a beautiful shell found in oceans worldwide.

Emiliania bloom off the coast of England, visible from space.

Over millions of years, emiliania built the white cliffs of Dover.

Photo: Africa Center for Holistic Management

From Bare Ground to Abundance

Above is land that was bare ground less than a decade prior to this photograph, restored using Holistic Planned Grazing. Eco-restoration is a familiar, safe, and highly promising response that is only recently gaining traction in the global climate strategy.

And there’s much more . . .

Solutions abound!

We have over two hundred conference videos, with people from around the world telling their stories of successfully transforming dead landscapes, bringing back water, cooling the air, feeding their families. And scientists explaining how it works, and expert practitioners offering ideas on how to get started.

There are ten issues of our Compendium with dozens of summaries of fascinating and relevant literature on nature solutions and a variety of topics.

So please look through our resources and offerings, and if you have any questions or suggestions please send us a note at staff@bio4climate.org.