We all accept that the Earth is ancient, just how old it is can be hard to bring into perspective.
What does 4.5 billion years actually mean, after all? For our short-lived human minds, how do you even grasp that amount of time?
In this 3-minute animation, “Business Insider” has done a pretty amazing job of showing Earth’s timeline as if time was the distance from Los Angeles to New York. And, oh my sweet summer child, our view of the world will never be the same.
Where Los Angeles will develop, back when Earth first evolved 4.54 billion years ago, we begin our journey. But on our road journey through time and space, we don’t get too far until the Moon turns up after Earth is struck by a celestial body.
And then, believe it or not, it was not until multicellular species evolved in Pennsylvania, halfway across the world, that was only 600 million years ago.
In Pennsylvania (around half way through our timeline), a lot happens – like plants colonizing the soil and emerging amphibians. And we’re still in New York State by the time the dinosaurs became gone.
Where do humans fit in, then?
We’ll let you watch the video below to find that out, and let’s just say that it will blow your freaking mind. Especially when you see how much we’ve done in just 5.6 feet (1.7 metres) of time.
5.6 of the total journey so far, 14,784,000 feet. Unbelievable.