The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth's History (oxford Landmark Science)
by David Beerling /
2017 / English / PDF
32.3 MB Download
In The Emerald Planet, David Beerling puts plants centre stage, revealing the crucial role they have played in driving global changes in the environment, in recording hidden facets of Earth's history, and in helping us to predict its future. His account draws together evidence from fossil plants, from experiments with their living counterparts, and from computer models of the 'Earth System', to illuminate the history of our planet and its biodiversity. This new approach reveals how
plummeting carbon dioxide levels removed a barrier to the evolution of the leaf how plants played a starring role in pushing oxygen levels upwards, allowing spectacular giant insects to thrive in the Carboniferous and it strengthens fascinating and contentious fossil evidence for an ancient hole in the ozone
layer. Along the way, Beerling introduces a lively cast of pioneering scientists from Victorian times onwards whose discoveries provided the crucial background to these and the other puzzles.
