Over 7 billion people now live on Earth, so it’s hard to image a time before the evolution of homo sapiens. And the evolution of the first life happened in an even more distant time. Yes, that’s before the time of the dinosaurs. But what if I told you that almost all life evolved in only the last 1/10th of Earth’s history. We’re now talking about such a huge timescale that scientists created a chart to simplify things: the Geologic timescale. If only anybody could read it.

Now before you click away, because I know it’s intimidating and “sciency”, this timescale, encapsulated in a graphic by Karl Tate, is more important to you than you might think. While you might not need to know the Pennsylvanian Period was about 300 million years ago (MA), understanding the basics of this chart can radically change how you view our home. I think everyone should know that the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old (determined with lead isotopes), when and why mass extinctions occurred, and how the Earth’s face has changed dramatically over time. This isn’t just geologic history; it’s the key to understanding our world and how it might change in the future.

Still with me? Great! To begin reading this colorful explosion of a chart, we first need to understand the headings above each column: eon, era, period, and epoch. (I’ll note here that the top of the chart is present time.) These labels don’t have a specific length or definition, they are simply used to break down time into manageable chunks. Basically, eons cover the largest span of time, and are broken into eras, then periods, then epochs, and finally ages (which aren’t shown in this chart for simplification). Why is this important to you? Well, you can now identify your place in time: welcome to the Holocene everyone!

As we delve deeper into this chart in future weeks, we’ll learn about dramatic climate changes, devastating mass extinctions, and the beautifully unique Earth in each era. For now, consider this. We humans track our lives down to the second, and it always feels like time is running out. But it’s not. I find it comforting to step back and look at the bigger picture. The way bigger picture. The Earth has been here for 4.5 billion years. According to npr, modern humans have been around for 200,000 years. And we’ve been recording our thoughts in writing and building empires for thousands of years. In fact, in the graphic below created by Pablo Budassi, humans only exist beyond the last mountain range at the end of the spiral. I find it comforting in a way that the world isn’t going to end tomorrow because of some mistake I make. In the grand scheme of things, I’m not even a blip on the chart. But that doesn’t mean you and I aren’t important. We have a few decades on this Earth to make our mark, and I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to get started.

I love to teach others about the amazing “Blue Planet” that we call home. (I highly recommend David Attenborough’s documentary series the Blue Planet for anyone interested in the natural world!) I have a deep respect for our planet, and I think that by sharing my knowledge with others I can help my fellow Earthlings feel the same. Our past is the key to our future, so in a world of climate disaster warnings and gradually disappearing nature, we need to cut through the drama to look at how Earth changed in the past to understand how it might shift in the future.