HOW PLANTS CHANGED THE EARTH
The planet didn't just shape plants. Plants eventually began reshaping the planet. When we look at a forest, it is easy to see trees as passengers on Earth. They grow in the soil. They drink water. They absorb sunlight. They respond to temperature and rainfall. But that is only half the story. Plants didn't simply adapt to Earth's environment. Once they spread across the land, they began changing the environment itself. They helped break down rocks. They changed how water moved across landscapes. They helped build soils. They altered the movement of carbon between the land, oceans and atmosphere. And over geological time, plants became powerful agents of change in the Earth system. So how did something that looks so ordinary become capable of changing an entire planet? --- BEFORE THE LAND TURNED GREEN For most of Earth's history, the continents did not look anything like they do today. There were no forests stretching across continents. No fields. No grasslands. No gian...
