Planetary Biology is a perspective that considers how the operations of living things interact with the planet – and by so doing, transform it. PlanetaryBiology.com affirms this view and extends its vision to consider
the prospects for habitable planets beyond.
In support of this planetary viewpoint, this site hosts the following three main resources:
A book that considers the operations of life from the perspective of the whole planet.
Early Earth, billions of years ago. The atmosphere was dominated by CO2, turning the sky a shade of brown.
Starting 2.5 billion years ago, photosynthesis, in microbes and later in plants, removed much of the CO2 and produced abundant O2. N2 ascended to a greater proportion, revealing a blusish sky.
Flowering plants appeared 180 million years ago. Life's presence and impact on the planet intensified, transforming the atmosphere and the environment into their modern form.
Starting about 200 million years ago, continental drift redistributed the continents.
NOTE: This scenario is an example of the Planetary Biology perspective, a view that considers the operations and influences of life in the context of the whole planet.