how did the earth form and how did it bring forth life?

Answer 1

Scientists have been able to reconstruct detailed information about the planet's past. Earth and the other planets in the Solar System formed 4.54 billion years ago[7] out of the solar nebula, a disk-shaped mass of dust and gas left over from the formation of the Sun. Initially molten, the outer layer of the planet Earth cooled to form a solid crust when water began accumulating in the atmosphere. The Moon formed soon afterwards, possibly as the result of a Mars-sized object (sometimes called Theia) with about 10% of the Earth's mass[16] impacting the Earth in a glancing blow.[17] Some of this object's mass would have merged with the Earth and a portion would have been ejected into space, but enough material would have been sent into orbit to form the Moon.

Outgassing and volcanic activity produced the primordial atmosphere. Condensing water vapor, augmented by ice delivered by comets, produced the oceans.[15] The highly energetic chemistry is believed to have produced a self-replicating molecule around 4 billion years ago, and half a billion years later, the last common ancestor of all life existed.[18]

The development of photosynthesis allowed the Sun's energy to be harvested directly by life forms; the resultant oxygen accumulated in the atmosphere and resulted in a layer of ozone (a form of molecular oxygen [O3]) in the upper atmosphere. The incorporation of smaller cells within larger ones resulted in the development of complex cells called eukaryotes.[19] True multicellular organisms formed as cells within colonies became increasingly specialized. Aided by the absorption of harmful ultraviolet radiation by the ozone layer, life colonized the surface of Earth.[20]

As the surface continually reshaped itself, over hundreds of millions of years, continents formed and broke up. The continents migrated across the surface, occasionally combining to form a supercontinent. Roughly 750 million years ago (mya), the earliest known supercontinent, Rodinia, began to break apart. The continents later recombined to form Pannotia, 600–540 mya, then finally Pangaea, which broke apart 180 mya.[21]

Since the 1960s, it has been hypothesized that severe glacial action between 750 and 580 mya, during the Neoproterozoic, covered much of the planet in a sheet of ice. This hypothesis has been termed "Snowball Earth", and is of particular interest because it preceded the Cambrian explosion, when multicellular life forms began to proliferate.[22]

Following the Cambrian explosion, about 535 mya, there have been five mass extinctions.[23] The last extinction event occurred 65 mya, when a meteorite collision probably triggered the extinction of the (non-avian) dinosaurs and other large reptiles, but spared small animals such as mammals, which then resembled shrews. Over the past 65 million years, mammalian life has diversified, and several mya, an African ape-like animal gained the ability to stand upright.[24] This enabled tool use and encouraged communication that provided the nutrition and stimulation needed for a larger brain. The development of agriculture, and then civilization, allowed humans to influence the Earth in a short time span as no other life form had,[25] affecting both the nature and quantity of other life forms.

The present pattern of ice ages began about 40 mya, then intensified during the Pleistocene about 3 mya. The polar regions have since undergone repeated cycles of glaciation and thaw, repeating every 40–100,000 years. The last ice age ended 10,000 years ago

Answer 2

You have a point. (no, not the one on top of your head, that is an old and very droll joke) It is likely that many special circumstances allowed for life to not only develop, which is as inevitable as rust on a Buick, but to flourish for billions of years, dozens of revolutions around the Milky Way. Still, the galaxy is huge and the stars, even if you restricted the search to only ones the distance of the Sun from the center of the galaxy or farther, almost without number, so planets with life might be common. Trouble is, whenever someone says those words "gosh, the Universe is just so BIG!" you know they have NO IDEA how big the Universe is... and we are facing a near-certainty that if there is indeed life "out there", we will never know. It's a little like saying there might be a coconut tree on and island on the other side of the Earth, but never being allowed to go check. Use all the math you want, but you can never prove that the tree is there, until you check. Aliens are like Schrodinger's Cat... in a state of non-existence until we actually find one. Which will probably never happen. It comes down to mental illness. Is it a good thing or a bad thing, in your opinion, that so many people believe that there are aliens out there, looking for us, waiting to either solve all our problems or blow up the White House? Knowing that they are as real as the Easter Bunny, for all intents and purposes, I have to opine that such a belief is unhealthy. The Earth is all we have. Believing that someday we will be rescued Deus ex Machina by aliens is foolish.

Answer 3

Those are both highly debated topics.

The best working model for the formation of Earth and the rest of the Solar System is the Big Bang theory. It can easily be Googled.

As for the rise of life, there is no "standard" hypothesis. I would recommend you look up the Miller-Urey experiment.


**** This is a science forum. Not religion. Only scientific answers should be given here. Religious answers are for R&S.

Answer 4

science section???a closed minded science section,..

is not science to quantify all 'hypothesi', b/c the current big banger theory is flawed b/c they do not take into account all the information provided in the genisis account, first chapter, about the different atmospheric conditions of the planet,..

Tolerate This, the earth is older than the sun, moon and stars,..

all this technology to make mathematical calculations and yet they fear the idea of an alternate reality from what currently they wish to believe,..

there is a $250,000 wager with kent hovind for REAL scientific proof,..no takers as of yet,..

i e a e,..
unificationist,..

Answer 5

Wow, if I could answer this in a couple of paragraphs, I'd have a Nobel Prize on my mantel.

That is an incredibly long and detailed answer, but I suppose I can try to sum it up.

Once upon a time, there was a massive cloud of gas and dust in the center of what is now our solar system. Out of this dust, immense gravity pulled it together into what is now our sun and its planets.

One theory of how life got here was from comets. Comets came in from the outer reaches of space, bringing with them water (since comets are made of ice) and complex organisms that would eventually evolve into life.

Answer 6

DarylC, if you are just going to copy and paste a Wikipedia article from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth, at least include a list of the footnotes you call out.

Answer 7

What do you think? That Allah created the earth from nothing?Your previous answer pretty well explained it.

Answer 8

The Book of Genesis in the Old testament gives all the answers.

Answer 9

It's all in the hands of God he created all!!!