ShmoopTube

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[Coop and Dino singing]

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Think about all the ways your home has changed over the years...

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…Maybe you upgraded from that pretty gross, but super comfy couch to that super-clean [Family sitting on sofa]

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but totally uncomfortable one...

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…Or maybe your dad completely remodeled your bathroom... [Boy walks into old bathroom]

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Almost.

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Whatever it might be, we can all agree that homes change over time – for better or for

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worse.

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And the same can certainly be said about the big home for all of our homes – Earth.

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Think about the Earth we have today. [Earth appears]

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It's full of life!

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Plants and trees that grow, giving us food and oxygen…

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…An atmosphere perfect for breathing…

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…Lakes of fresh water… [Lake appears]

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And hey, the temperature isn't so bad either! [People sunbathing on beach]

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Seriously, you think winters are cold here?

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Try negative 195 Fahrenheit on Mars.

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You won't be dreaming of a white Christmas in that weather… [Man in an ice block]

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…because you'll be frozen.

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Anyway!

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This is the Earth we know today.

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But believe it or not, Earth wasn't always so pleasant.

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Let's rewind about, say, 4.5 billion years. [Earth spins fast]

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When Earth was just a young planet, it wasn't exactly the welcoming place we know and love

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today.

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Think of this as the Earth's rebellious teen years.

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Lots of eye rolling. [Earths eyes rolling]

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And it was hot.

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Like, really hot.

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Like completely volcanic.

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And also covered in totally poisonous gas. [Earth covered in gas]

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Not exactly the kind of place we'd love to call home, huh?

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But just like any brooding teenager going through an emotional phase...

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the Earth ended up changing…

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A lot.

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Eventually, it reached the point where the atmosphere contained enough oxygen to support

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life, along with the eventual presence of water on the Earth and in the air. [Small tortoise appears in a forest]

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Then came along this pesky asteroid that scientists believe changed the atmosphere and caused

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most of the animals on Earth to go extinct.

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Which was sort of a bummer.

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Then Earth got warm, and plants and animals thrived again. [Earth turns into plants and animals]

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Yay!

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And then it got cold.

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Really cold.

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Like, multiple Ice Ages cold.

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…Man, what an emotional rollercoaster!

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But eventually, things warmed back up a bit, leading us to where we are today.

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All in all, the Earth has gone through a whole host of changes in its tiny little four and

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a half billion year long lifespan.

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And it's still changing today, progressively getting warmer and warmer due to a little [Thermometer increasing]

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thing we call global warming.

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If only we had an Earth-sized swimming pool for it to jump into...that'd be one cannonball [Earth lands into swimming pool]

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we wouldn't want to witness.

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