Video Documentary

¶ … history documentary, part 1 was very interesting and well thought out. The CGI placing Europe's landmarks and buildings amidst ancient forest, desert, and ocean were well done. The most interesting part began during the rainforest era, 300 million years ago. This era was the most fascinating to me because of the all the giant bugs like the 3 meter long millipede and one of the world's earliest amphibians. That section also had giant ferns that were later identified throughout the ages thanks to the perfectly encased imprints they left behind.

All these forests and fauna that existed back then laid the ground work for the coal that Europe had and has now. They discussed specifically in the segment how 10 meters of forest became 1 meter of coal. Coal was one of the most important sources of energy for quite some time. They pointed to Europe being one of the most modern areas in the world and coal had something to do with it. To see the origins of the coal source within Europe was not only highly informative, but also entertaining.

It was so interesting to see how gradual climate change brought about the changes that impacted Europe recently and continue to, today. It just goes to show that the history of an area is rich regardless of the events of modern times. People forget sometimes to connect what exists today to what happened in the past. The volcano of ancient times I believe it was in Scotland, provided the genesis of a lot of tectonic activity in the world.

Just like the Scandinavian land mass was one of the most ancient parts of Europe. Another thing to note was how separated and fragmented Europe was back then. It took a lot of tectonic activity to unite al of the pieces and form what Europe is today.

This all ties into the idea that Europe witnessed a lot of climate change, a lot of activity, making the continent one of the most highly altered places in the world, not just in a human activity way, but in terms of natural history. The other most interesting point was the amber that was found along the shoreline. The documentary discussed the rise of the mammals in subtropical forests.

Much like the giant insects of the rainforests back 300 million years ago, these mammals came to dominate the area after some massive changes, specifically the fall of the dinosaurs. The hair found inside the ancient amber revealed the presence of mammals and their subsequent dominance. The tapirs, miniature horses, anteaters, and carnivores were of interest because of the history Europe has with horses. Horses were and still are a very important part of Europe for millennia as it provided a means of transportation and economy.

To see their origin story within this documentary was great. It also provided a sense of cyclical scale as these events were always triggered by a cataclysmic rise and fall. The fact that the mammals evolved so rapidly and became so diverse shows how Europe's landscape provided the means for which the mammals could thrive. Additionally the splitting of North America and Iceland, creating the Atlantic Ocean, could provide explanation as to how certain species of animals existed in North America as they did in Europe.

Looking at the way Europe came to be.