Kevin Zheng, Period 6, 02/02/2024

Kevin Zheng, Period 6, 02/02/2024
Modern Mythology 2024

Research Paper - End of the World, Again and Again


In the world of Norse Mythology, Ragnarok is a series of events that will lead to the death of the gods and the end of the world. Previously, I connected the idea of Odin trying to prevent Ragnarok from happening to our modern world, where humanity is also launching various projects to prevent destroying the world through pollution and other disasters. However, I have never questioned this. Was our world ever destroyed before?


Giant Impact Theory

The planet that we reside on, Earth, as we know it, was formed over 4.6 billion years ago out of a mixture of dust and gas. On the other hand, how was the moon formed? The moon we know plays an important role in sustaining life on our planet, but its origin and cause of birth are unknown. However, scientists proposed a theory called the Giant Impact Theory. This heavily accepted theory explained the possible reason for the moon’s birth and most importantly, the history of the Earth’s past.

The Giant Impact Theory states that a Mars-sized planet called Theia existed within the solar system. Due to the gravitational influence of Jupiter, Venus, or both, Theia’s trajectory was changed and went towards Earth. Eventually, around 4.5 billion years ago, Theia and Earth directly collided. This collision launched a tremendous amount of debris from both Earth and Theia out into space. Eventually, the debris and dust recombined and formed the moon. After the collision, the old Earth and Theia combined and formed a brand new Earth.

After studying the samples of materials extracted from the lunar surface, scientists found out that the composition of the moon is very similar to that of Earth, which supports the theory which states that the moon was formed out of materials from Earth. While Earth is abundant in silicon, aluminum, iron, and calcium, these substances are also what make up most of the composition of the moon. While helium-3 is a rare substance on Earth, it is abundant on the lunar surface. This could be due to the spread of materials not being even from the collision.

The world was destroyed. But what followed after? What happened to the living creatures of the past?




The “Big Five” Mass Extinction

A mass extinction event is a period where species begin to vanish. In the end, a large percentage of the world’s species are lost. About 400 to 450 million years ago, life on Earth was undergoing the Late Ordovician mass extinction. This extinction was thought to have been caused by climate change, specifically, the ice age. Climate change disrupted the distribution and cycling of essential substances to sustain life in the ocean at the time, which were oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen. Throughout about a million years, 85 percent of the species went extinct. This was the first known mass extinction.

Shortly after the Late Ordovician, roughly 375 million years ago, early plants began to colonize the land. Deep in the ocean on the ocean floors, organisms like corrals, algae, cyanobacteria, mollusks, arthropods, and fishes were thriving. Scientists suggested that there may be two major events that simultaneously occurred. While Earth was cooling down, marine organisms that consumed oxygen eventually caused an extended period of marine anoxia, which is a lack of dissolved oxygen in the water. In about the span of 20 million years, 75 percent of all species on Earth disappeared.

The Permian-Triassic extinction, also known as the “Great Dying”, was the worst mass extinction that Earth has ever experienced. Occurring around 250 million years ago, an immense volcanic eruption occurred in what is now known as Siberia. The eruption triggered the release of more than 10 trillion tons of carbon and the magma from the eruption also were likely to have released other greenhouse gases such as methane, causing temperature increase throughout the planet. This catastrophic event wiped out 96 percent of all marine species and 75 percent of the species on land. Marine ecosystems took millions of years to recover from this cataclysm.

After millions of years, life began to recover and diversity after the Great Dying. However, about 200 million years ago, life suffered another major blow. During the Triassic-Jurassic extinction, carbon dioxide levels began to rise due to the huge amount of greenhouse gases from central Pangaea, which was the supercontinent at the time. The remnants of ancient lava flow are also believed to have spread throughout the planet. In the end, about 80 percent of all land and marine species are gone again.

The Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction is the most known and recent mass extinction. It is also said to be connected to the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs that once roamed the planet. Roughly 66 million years ago, an asteroid roughly 7.5 miles across struck Earth at the speed of about 45,000 miles per hour. This massive impact flung dust, debris, and sulfur into the atmosphere, bringing on a severe global temperature increase. Wildfires and tsunamis simultaneously occurred, wiping out the land and life that thrived. The debris blocked the sunlight, preventing photosynthesis which wiped out the bottom of the food chains, and eventually the top. The extinction is proven by the discovery of a crater located in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, which is said to be the location of the asteroid impact.

Our world has been destroyed before. Life has been wiped out multiple times throughout the millions of years. And now, the planet faces a crisis once again; the sixth mass extinction. With the ongoing natural disaster, and cruel and never-lasting war, are we next? Will we be destroyed, by the hand of nature, or perhaps by the hand of ourselves?




Citation:

Papiewski, John. “What Chemicals Do the Earth & Moon Have in Common?” Sciencing, 2 Mar. 2019, sciencing.com/chemicals-earth-moon-common-22788.html.

“Moon Maps, Lunar Origins and Everything Between.” University of Arizona News, 16 July 2020, news.arizona.edu/story/moon-maps-lunar-origins-and-everything-between#:~:text=In%201974%2C%20Hartmann%20and%20Davis,than%204.5%20billion%20years%20ago.

“Collision May Have Formed the Moon in Mere Hours, Simulations Reveal.” NASA, NASA, 26 July 2023, www.nasa.gov/solar-system/collision-may-have-formed-the-moon-in-mere-hours-simulations-reveal/.

Greshko, Michael, and National Geographic Staff. “Mass Extinction Facts and Information from National Geographic.” Science, National Geographic, 3 May 2021, www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/mass-extinction.