Page 107 - The Final Appeal to Mankind

«The Final Appeal to Mankind» by Nicolai Levashov

every species of living organism. (This mechanism was explained in detail in Chapter
3). Gradually the oxygen from the sea water created by photosynthesis reached the

atmosphere, and increased in concentration. During atmospheric electrical discharges
a certain amount of atmospheric oxygen was transformed into ozone, eventually
creating an ozone layer of the planet in the stratosphere. The ozone layer became a
protective screen against the harsh solar and cosmic radiation. As time went by, the
ozone layer gradually grew larger and finally became thick enough to reflect the greater
part of that radiation. Conditions for the development of life on the planet’s land
surface were thus created.

Plants then began to explore the land, at first developing at the outer edge of the
mainland, then moving deeper and deeper into it. Wolf-claws and club moss
(Lycopodia), horse-tails and Filicinae were the first conquerors of the land. The first
terrestrial plants developed in an atmosphere far richer in carbon dioxide than the sea
water, a fact which lent further impetus to the development of photosynthesis. By this
time, the BEF of these plants had reached five percent.

Animals followed the plants onto the land. The first terrestrial animals originating in
the course of evolution were amphibians, choanate, or lobe-finned fish. The formation
of an ecological system on land had begun. The development of life upon land had a
much more vigorous character. Gigantic horse-tails, ivies and ferns created an
enormous quantity of vegetable biomass. Only large animals were able to consume
such huge plants. A time of giants had come to the Earth. After amphibians, mammals,

which had a variety of evolutionary advantages, appeared on the land and soon began
to dominate.

A reign of giants — dinosaurs — prevailed for hundreds of millions of years. But, as a
result of photosynthesis, enormous amounts of atmospheric gases were removed from
the atmosphere to build up the planet’s biomass, and the concentration of atmospheric

carbon dioxide in the atmosphere began to decrease. The carbon dioxide amassed in
the atmosphere before the appearance of life, was gradually used up by giant plants
over hundreds of millions of years.

The “reserve” of the planet’s carbon dioxide began to decrease, though it continued to
enter the atmosphere through volcanic eruptions and as a product of the metabolic
activity of living organisms. Little by little, Earth’s tectonic activity diminished, and

less gaseous material, including carbon dioxide was released into the atmosphere. As
a result, the giant plants on land began to die off and ultimately their quantity became
insufficient to sustain the dinosaurs whose numbers also gradually declined.

Better developed vegetable organisms — gymnosperms, whose BEF had reached
seven percent, began to replace the giant plants — ivies, horse-tails and tree-ferns.
While conditions were favorable for their growth and development, the giant plants

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