NOVA

Ancient Earth: Birth of the Sky

Early Earth was a hellscape of molten lava and barren rock, bombarded by meteors, with no atmosphere at all. How did our familiar blue sky – the thin, life-giving band of gasses protecting our planet – come to be?

Ancient Earth: Birth of the Sky

53m 47s

Early Earth was a hellscape of molten lava and barren rock, bombarded by meteors, with no atmosphere at all. How did our familiar blue sky – the thin, life-giving band of gasses protecting our planet – come to be?

  • Ancient Earth May Have Had Red Oceans: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Ancient Earth May Have Had Red Oceans

    S50 E11 - 3m 34s

    How did oxygen escape from the oceans to form Earth’s atmosphere and create breathable air? Rust played a critical role in the process.

  • Ancient Earth Was a Hellscape: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Ancient Earth Was a Hellscape

    S50 E11 - 3m 9s

    For millions of years, ancient Earth was a fiery hellscape of volcanic activity, totally inhospitable to life. See what our planet might have looked like before the atmosphere—a ball of rock and fire hurtling through space.

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