Fateful Planet

Shortly after the formation of our solar system the potential for life begins when Earth collides with another protoplanet. Somehow Earth survives and a new world is created: the moon. Without the moon there may not have been life on our planet.

Throughout its history Earth has continuously fluctuated between "greenhouse" and "icehouse." An icehouse phase known as "Snowball Earth" is the most extreme period of cold our planet has ever witnessed with ice encasing Earth from the poles to the equator. Somehow new life manages to survive.

540 million years ago the ancestors of modern complex organisms suddenly emerge in the Cambrian seas. Evolution progresses and even manages to make the leap onto land. But 250 million years ago massive volcanic eruptions trigger the most severe mass extinctions in Earth’s history.

In the Triassic period dinosaurs rise to dominate our planet for 150 million years. 66 million years ago the dinosaurs vanish—along with 75% of all species. Did an asteroid cause the last mass extinction? Experts are using the latest scientific methods to discover what killed the dinosaurs.

Shortly after humans appear they become the dominant species on Earth but face threats from both above and below—including super volcanic eruptions and falling asteroids. Today scientists around the world use the latest technology to mitigate future catastrophes.