00:00Around 3-200 million years ago, all the continents were stuck together as one big landmass.
00:08Over time, they moved apart and formed the continents we have today.
00:12That giant landmass was called Pangaea, and the Earth looked very different back then.
00:19Which begs the question, what would our life be like if that split never occurred?
00:24Well, let's find out!
00:27In simple words, tectonic plates are big chunks of the Earth's outer shell.
00:32Our planet is like a puzzle of landmass, and these plates are the pieces.
00:37Since the Earth is so incredibly hot inside, its heat influences the rocky ground above
00:43the core.
00:45Slightly melted rocks start floating in the ocean of scorched magma.
00:49This movement creates the tectonic plates, and they're always moving, just really slowly,
00:55which is why we don't notice it.
00:58Their movement has been a fundamental force shaping the Earth's surface, climate, and
01:03the evolution of life over millions of years.
01:06For example, when two plates bump into each other, one might go under the other.
01:12Or they might slide past each other.
01:14Sometimes they pull apart.
01:17All these movements create things like earthquakes and volcanoes.
01:22And when plates push against each other, it can make the land go up, creating mountains.
01:28So the big mountain ranges on Earth like the Himalayas formed because tectonic plates were
01:34pushing into each other.
01:36Now here's the thing with Pangaea.
01:39In a supercontinent, all tectonic plates are united, and they don't really move.
01:44Well, at least not a lot like they do now.
01:47So if Pangaea remained intact for billions of years, everything in our world would look
01:53completely different.
01:55For example, we wouldn't have many mountain ranges anymore, no Alps, Himalayas, and Andes.
02:02What a nightmare that would be for ski lovers!
02:05But there's an upside to that too.
02:07No continental drift means much less disasters in our world.
02:11All our earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions would be much rarer and calmer.
02:17War might not occur at all.
02:20However, hurricanes would keep existing, and they could be crazy strong.
02:25With Pangaea being one huge lump of land, the rest of the world will be water stretching
02:31from the west to east.
02:33That's just a free water slide for a hurricane.
02:36Please feel free to build up in intensity without anything to bump into.
02:41So once it finally reaches us, prepare for Category 5 or even stronger hurricanes or
02:47tornadoes.
02:48They'd be regular visitors too.
02:51And if you decided to live in eastern Pangaea, yep, you're doomed.
02:56The way the continents are arranged also affects how the oceans move and the weather behaves.
03:02In Pangaea, the climate would be very different across the globe.
03:06The middle of our supercontinent would be super weird.
03:10Right in the center we'd have a huge, dry desert.
03:13But there would also be dense, cool rainforests along the borders of this desert.
03:18Why?
03:19Because Pangaea is so massive and rain from the ocean wouldn't reach far enough inland,
03:24so it would be stacking up around the edge.
03:28This would make some parts of the land not so great for…anything.
03:33Rain and water would wear down the land, flattening hills and carrying away soil over a long time.
03:40Eventually, Pangaea might even shrink and disappear underwater.
03:44Closer to the edges of Pangaea, the weather might be more mild or tropical.
03:49Up north it would be warmer than it is now.
03:52And finally we'd have some understanding of seasons, but we'd have no idea that it
03:57becomes harder for you to breathe as you go higher.
04:01So how would all this affect living things?
04:05Well, bad!
04:07Pangaea would be awful for the variety of life on Earth.
04:10History shows that having separate pieces of land is very important for life.
04:15It was a big reason why new kinds of species appeared.
04:19For example, Madagascar, an island that broke off from Pangaea, was isolated for millions
04:25of years, which is why it has many plants and animals not found anywhere else.
04:31Fewer isolated lands, like Madagascar and Australia, mean less cool and unique plants
04:36and animals.
04:37The climate problem doesn't go away either.
04:40Almost all Pangaea would be hot and dry inside.
04:43But it wouldn't be all too boring.
04:45There would still be some environments for animals to live in.
04:48Reptiles like dinosaurs might do well in this kind of climate.
04:52That's one reason why dinosaurs thrived when the whole world was one big landmass before
04:57mammals came around.
04:59Also, this might push for the development of creatures that can live in water.
05:04They'd be more diverse and bigger in size.
05:08So basically, Pangaea is a master of creating Earth as dangerous for humans as possible.
05:15With all this in mind, let's finally see how humanity's doing, assuming that we survived
05:20and evolved.
05:21First of all, where would your country be located?
05:25In theory, you could take a road trip from Brazil to Canada, because they'd be part
05:29of the same huge landmass.
05:32North America would be right here, and Europe would be just east of it.
05:36Most of Asia would be up north, and Antarctica would stay down south.
05:42Australia would still be in the middle of nowhere.
05:45A literal Antarctica would be closer to everyone than Australia.
05:49That's assuming that countries stayed the same.
05:52And hey, cool news!
05:54All our modern countries might not exist at all!
05:57Ok, that didn't sound as good as intended.
06:00More precisely, the countries would have completely different boundaries, and the world
06:04would be much more peaceful and united.
06:06Let's see.
06:08First, we'd form some tribes.
06:11But since we would share the land, we'd have to compromise.
06:14We can't all have the only coast or only inland regions.
06:18Each tribe would probably get a fair piece of the land so that everyone could meet in
06:23the middle to settle problems or make trade agreements.
06:27As tribes got bigger, people would move to new lands, separated by deserts and forests,
06:33forming their own nations.
06:35The hunter-gatherer era might take some more time, since we have fewer animals and plants.
06:41If we started hunting, we'd probably wipe out all the big animals pretty quickly, except
06:47for the ones we could potentially domesticate.
06:50Imagine having dinosaurs as pets!
06:52But the whole supercontinent would quickly enter the agricultural era, because whatever
06:57technologies we discover, we'd share them with each other right away.
07:02The main difference would be that during our age of exploration, there would be mostly
07:06small isolated islands to discover.
07:10Travel and trade would be easier too.
07:13Cultures would be less distant from each other compared to our world.
07:17For example, right now, Native American culture is very different from Pacific Island culture
07:23because they've been separated by water for a long time.
07:27But on Pangaea, cultures might form a continuous line from the southern tip to the northern
07:33tip, which means all cultures would be very closely related.
07:37And that wouldn't be the only similarity.
07:40Our appearances would be very much alike as well.
07:43Since Earth is still tilted on its axis, the very north and south will stay cooler.
07:49So even though some people would still have white skin and blonde hair, in general, everyone
07:55would still have less melanin.
07:57Around the central part where the sun is always shining, most people will still have dark
08:02or tanned skin.
08:04This could create a more similar world where people could see themselves as global citizens
08:10and earthlings.
08:12The sad part is, we probably wouldn't be as motivated for technological progress as
08:17we are now.
08:18All the land is already known, there's no need to explore.
08:22The weather is mostly good and warm.
08:25The crops are growing well, the neighbors are hopefully peaceful, which is why humans
08:30would be fine with things as they are.
08:32We'd probably stick to basic tools and science.
08:35Of course, we're naturally curious creatures, so we'd still have some progress.
08:41It just would be very slow compared to our world.
08:45What sounds boring for some might sound awesome for us.
08:49Our life would be less exciting, but we'd be more united and peaceful.
08:53Maybe in a world like that, we'd learn to treat each other with more kindness and love.
08:59But we can only imagine.
09:01That's it for today!
09:02So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your
09:07friends!
09:08Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!
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