David Beerling Books
David Beerling is a British paleobotanist and professor of Natural Sciences at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on the interactions between plants and the environment through geological time, particularly their role in shaping Earth's climate and atmosphere.
Known for: The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth's History
Books by David Beerling
The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth's History
The Emerald Planet explores how plants have shaped Earth's climate, atmosphere, and ecosystems over geological time. David Beerling, a paleobotanist, traces the evolution of plant life from its earliest origins to its profound influence on the planet’s environment, showing how vegetation has driven major transformations in atmospheric composition and global temperature. The book combines paleontology, geology, and biology to reveal the deep interconnection between plant evolution and Earth's history.
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Early Earth and the Origins of Plant Life
At the beginning, the Earth was a very different world—hot, devoid of oxygen, and barren. Life’s earliest chapters were written not on land, but in the global ocean. Here, among the primeval chemistry of minerals and sunlight, photosynthetic organisms—cyanobacteria—emerged. They were humble in form ...
From The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth's History
Colonization of Land
When simple algae-like plants ventured from watery refuges onto damp shorelines around 470 million years ago, they faced formidable obstacles: ultraviolet radiation, desiccation, and the need for new structural and reproductive strategies. The transition was one of the greatest adaptive leaps in the...
From The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth's History
About David Beerling
David Beerling is a British paleobotanist and professor of Natural Sciences at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on the interactions between plants and the environment through geological time, particularly their role in shaping Earth's climate and atmosphere.
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David Beerling is a British paleobotanist and professor of Natural Sciences at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on the interactions between plants and the environment through geological time, particularly their role in shaping Earth's climate and atmosphere.
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