The Emerald Planet: How plants changed Earth's history

by David Beerling

Plants have profoundly moulded the Earth's climate and the evolutionary trajectory of life. Far from being 'silent witnesses to the passage of time', plants are dynamic components of our world, shaping the environment throughout history as much as that environment has shaped them.

In The Emerald Planet , David Beerling puts plants centre stage, revealing the crucial role they have played in driving global changes in the environment, in recording hidden facets of Earth's history, and in helping us to predict its future. His account draws together evidence from fossil plants, from experiments with their living counterparts, and from computer models of the 'Earth System', to illuminate the history of our planet and its biodiversity. This new approach reveals how plummeting carbon dioxide levels removed a barrier to the evolution of the leaf; how plants played a starring role in pushing oxygen levels upwards, allowing spectacular giant insects to thrive in the Carboniferous; and it strengthens fascinating and contentious fossil evidence for an ancient hole in the ozone layer. Along the way, Beerling introduces a lively cast of pioneering scientists from Victorian times onwards whose discoveries provided the crucial background to these and the other puzzles.

This understanding of our planet's past sheds a sobering light on our own climate-changing activities, and offers clues to what our climatic and ecological futures might look like. There could be no more important time to take a close look at plants, and to understand the history of the world through the stories they tell.

Oxford Landmark Science books are 'must-read' classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas, and shaped the way we think.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Biology, Nature, Environment, History, Plants

416 pages, Paperback

First published February 22, 2007

Reviews

[Nicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I confess that I wasn’t expecting to love a book that focuses on photosynthesising plants; I don’t have a huge interest in plants, as a general rule, and I picked this up because it was one of the Oxford Landmark Science books. Buuuut this book definitely got me interested in the way plants work, the various types of photosynthesis, etc. It’s written in an engaging style — you can feel that Beerling loves his topic, and it really works.

I find myself recommending this to people now. If you don’t understand how much we rely on the photosynthesising part of the biosphere, well, maybe it’s time you got a wake-up call. And I think this book could get anyone enthused.

Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

[Lois Bujold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dratted Goodreads just ate my review... try again.

Well, hm. Not quite the book I was looking for.

This was more of a scattered grab-bag, which did include interesting recent news on plant and atmospheric science and some good history of scientists, but it lacked... cumulative narrative flow? The writing was good on a section-by-section basis, but putting it all together was more of a do-it-yourself project than I was quite on for.

I'd wanted something to give me a round-up of all that is currently known about plant evolution, starting with, say, cyanobacteria, touring the cladistic relationships, and bringing one up to the present. (Well, probably not all, which would require not a volume but the Library of Trantor.) But something more basic, botanical, and chronological. I'm sure such a volume is out there, but it's not this book, which has a different, perhaps larger-scale, focus.

Ta, L.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over all an excellent book. Beerling’s style of writing makes this book accessible to everyone. He is clear and concise which reminded me of the no nonsense approach of journal articles. In some places this means a humorous remark or observation reads awkwardly.
There were a couple of parts of the book that I felt deviated from plants for a little too long. The fact I was left thinking “Get on with the plant stuff already” is a credit to Beerling and his ability to draw the reader into a subject matter.
This next gripe is a bit petty but I hate it when the notes are at the back of a book! It is more in tune with the academic style to have notes after the text but in a popular science publication flicking to and fro from the reading page to the notes was driving me crazy. I hate interrupting my reading flow and it pains me to think some people may not have even bothered to read them.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh earth you fox of a planet! If you have read Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis then you might enjoy this more orthodox account of the relationship between Earth's climate and the action of plants. It turns out those naughty plants have repeatedly kicked the planet out of climate equilibrium by monkeying around with atmospheric CO2 levels.

So basically, climate change will be just fine: During the Eocene climatic optimum there were no polar icecaps, and there were forests on Antarctica. In the short term we'll almost certainly cause a horrific mass extinction maybe accompanied by a collapse in human population and weeping and gnashing of teeth. In the long term, 10 million years from now your great great grandchildren will be joyously picking mushrooms in the midnight sun of a balmy Antarctic summer. Hooray!

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this is a very informative book, it wasn't quite what I expected and as a result I found I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I could have. I was expecting a book about how plants have evolved and how this has affected the planet's history and climate and while Beerling does cover this to a certain extent the main thrust of the book was more about the effects plants have had on everything else and how these discoveries were made. Don't get me wrong, this is very well written, well researched and surprisingly easy to read given the complexity of the subjects covered and it is one I would certainly recommend, it just didn't match with my expectations (or the title for that matter). It is a very interesting read though, it's just more about the planet than the plants.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I obtained this book in part as a casual effort to try to understand where the celery on my plate came from. Whereas the evolution of plants is talked about (celery is briefly touched upon), this is really a book about the role of plant fossils in explaining climate events in Earth’s history, and the role that plants have played in altering this climate. Amiss expectations aside, if you are even a little bit open minded (unlike some other reviewers on here), this is actually a very fascinating and engaging read. So watch some youtube videos to refresh your grasp on photosynthesis and let’s get started.

In each chapter, Beerling outlines a mystery in the fossil record to be explained. We get introduced to some characters and stories, some more interesting than others, which segues nicely into clear as crystal science where theory after theory are shot down by new discoveries and explanations. This kind of narrative device succeeds and does indeed lead to some riveting reading. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on why some plants shed their leaves in the winter months versus evergreen plants which do not. The answers to these questions are more often than not intimately tied to the climate and other events on Earth that have affected the climate, including the plants themselves! These kinds of insights are deeply satisfying to learn about.

Due to the quick pace of scientific dissensus; the primary narrative drive of the book, the first thing to note for new readers is that by now this book is a little old. For example, from a small enough foothold, the common ancestor of grasses (with a levelled up photosynthesis) was able to encourage enough spontaneous wildfire to burn down the leafy forests, subsequently altering the climate forever which would allow for more grass to take hold and reinforce this cycle. This complex positive feedback loop is presented as highly conjecturally but compelling nonetheless. It would be extremely interesting to see how it has developed over the past ten years, however I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it, or any of the other ideas discussed, have been turned on their head. As is much of science, this area of research is so multidisciplinary and fast paced, it is odd there aren’t more books to keep us regular folk up to speed.

But this really isn’t an issue at all. It is all about journey in the end right? And it is really remarkable to see how we are able to peek so far into the past by combining all of our knowledge. This fact is captured nicely in the maxim coined by Archibald Geike, “the present is the key to the past”. But the inverse is most definitely the case as well. Take global warming; in particular the last bout of it in the Eocene epoch (40 million years ago). As it turns out, we cannot attribute it solely to carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere as is often done so today, but rather to a complicated dance of CO2 with other potent greenhouse gases (from a number of interesting sources) interacting with each other in the atmosphere. Without giving away too much, CO2 levels are both responsible and not responsible here. Investigations and discussions like these serve to put the current climate crisis into much needed perspective. It is this depth of understanding we can gain from looking closely at dead plants.

[Mandy Haggith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good, in-depth explanation of plant evolution and the impact plants have had on the planet.

[Kelli Ruby · Rating 4 out of 5]

So interesting!

[dell · Rating 4 out of 5]

remarkably fascinating evidence in defense of dialectical materialism! Engels’ is smiling from beyond

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-written history of plants and their role in Earth’s development.

[Светлана · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though the topic is obviously interesting, the book somehow persists to be extremely draggy.

[Kokoro · Rating 1 out of 5]

Se supone trata de la contribución de las plantas a lo largo de la evolución de la tierra, y es un tema al cual no se le presta atención pues lo primordial son los dinosaurios, la tierra en general y la humanidad, dejando a las plantas muy relegadas y creí este libro le daría su importancia.

Pero no fue así.

En su lugar tenemos capítulos enteros desperdiciados, entre comillas, ya sea introductorio, de repaso, sobre el calentamiento global, y hojas enteras donde explican la historia del oxígeno, ozono, exámenes de matemáticas e intento de anécdotas graciosas. Cuando al fin se escribe sobre plantas no profundiza en el papel de estas en los diversos cambios a lo largo de la historia, pero si menciona y muchos los cambios adaptativos de estas desde su aparición y al día de hoy; sin embargo, tras leer el texto no estoy segura si las plantas se adaptaron o contribuyeron a dichos cambios, posiblemente sea un caso de huevo-gallina.

Otra cosa, supongo este libro fue escrito para la persona común pero no lo siento tan accesible por su redacción y elección de algunos términos. Dudo darle una segunda oportunidad, y no lo recomendaría. Lamentablemente no tengo título que ofrecer a cambio de este, si lo encontrase editaría esta reseña para incluirlo.

[Mareike · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Emerald Planet gives a broad introduction to the combined fields of paleontology, geology and botany. The book follows a scheme of introducing leading researchers and their contribution to the field, which I personally find very interesting (i.e. I like to get more of a context of the researchers that lived at round about the same period and how hypotheses developed with time).

Having a basic understanding of geological time and its division into ages definitely helps understanding this book, but this is also remarked at the beginning. If you're completely new to this field, try and have a geological chart with you to know what period the author is referring to (e.g. the Carboniferous or Eocene as times of extreme climates).

Although this is not a textbook, the extensive list of references to scientific papers and other publications is also a fantastic starting point to dive deeper into this field and start studying this topic independently.

Roughly, this book covers:
- early and recent investigations into plant evolution
- explanations of important chemical networks (i.e. photosynthesis and respiration, ozone formation, rock weathering)
- implications of fluctuating atmospheric composition for the climatic system of our planet.

[Elentarri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely written book that explores the changing physiology of plants and how this affects the climate in the past and possibly the future. I found this to be an extremely interesting book and learned a whole lot of new things which is the whole point to reading science books.

NOTE: Due to the large number of diagrams, it is probably better to read a print version of this book rather than an epub/mobi version since the diagrams are rather small on an e-reader.

[Bill Leach · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is largely about various mechanisms that have affected the earth's climate over the eons. The plant connection is twofold - plant fossils have provided information on past climates and how they have changed, but also plant growth has been a factor in climate change.

The author discusses numerous feedback effects that have been proposed in earth processes. Examples include a negative feedback where higher oxygen levels encouraged vegetation fires thus reducing vegetation burial and reducing oxygen levels. Many of these effects are speculative and quantification is uncertain, showing just how poorly understood are earth processes.

The first vascular plants, which appeared 425 mya, had bare branches but no leaves. Leaves developed 30 my later, and diversified greatly by the start of the Carboniferous period 360 mya. The homeobox gene KNOX, found in many plants, must be turned off for leaves to develop. The upper surface of the leaf is specialized for gathering light, while stomata on the lower surface control the uptake of carbon dioxide needed for photosynthesis. As the stomata also loose water, plant evolution using the HIC gene, tends to minimize the number of stomata, given the carbon dioxide uptake requirement. Trees in southern England have 40 percent fewer stomata than 150 years ago. Early land plants living in the CO2 rich atmosphere had less than 5 stomata per square millimeter, while plants living in the current relatively low CO2 environment have several hundred per square millimeter. More pores mean greater transpiration, providing better cooling and allowing larger leaves which gather more heat. Large leaves are an effect of an atmosphere with lower carbon dioxide concentration.

The long-term carbon cycle has CO2 being released by volcanic action which falls with the rain dissolving rock. The carbonate is used by animals to build shells. When they die, the shells fall to the ocean bottom and subduction eventually buries the carbon deep in the earth. A feedback effect exists whereby warmer temperatures increase weathering, reducing CO2 concentrations and the greenhouse effect - thereby cooling the planet. When the plants underwent their Paleozoic explosion, the increased fixing of CO2 by plant action caused the CO2 concentration to plummet. Plants dissolve rocks at five times the rate that precipitation does.

The oxygen content of the atmosphere rose to about 35 percent, starting in the Devonian, peaking in the Permian, then dropping to as low as 15 percent by the early Triassic. The high oxygen levels allowed giant insects to evolve. It is apparently thought that the abundant growth of plants during the Carboniferous lead to the higher oxygen levels, and the subsequent stimulation of the long-term carbon cycle brought the oxygen levels back down. The author is not clear on this issue, however.

A chapter on the ozone layer introduces the idea that a breakdown of the ozone layer caused the huge extinction at the end of the Permian. The proposed mechanism revolves around massive volcanism from the Siberian Traps releasing chlorine, warming releasing methane from the oceans and stagnation of the oceans.

Plant fossils from Greenland and Sweden suggest a pulse of carbon dioxide, rich in C12, at the Triassic - Jurassic boundary, leading to global warming and a hot climate. The current thinking is that eruptions of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province released massive amounts of carbon dioxide, warming the oceans and releasing the C12 rich methanes from hydrates, in turn causing additional warming.

Polar forests existed between 75 and 80 degrees north, fossils dating to 45 mya having been found in the Canadian Arctic. The preserved leaves are those of the Dawn Redwood. While forests are now limited in their northern expansion by permafrost, at the time temperatures were higher. The forests had to deal with the virtual lack of light during the winter. However, the growth rings average 4 mm, compared to northern larches that currently produce 2 mm of growth per year. The annual productivity of wood in these polar forests has been calculated as being comparable to the southern forests of Chile. The polar forests were deciduous - the author reviews various theories as to why that was the case.

The warm temperatures of the Eocene peaked about 50 mya. They have steady fallen since then, except for a warming period in the Miocene between 15 and 25 mya. The cause of the warm Eocene has been proposed as ocean circulation patterns or global warming due to the presence of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor. The author reviews many of the mechanisms of warming. Climate modeling has had little success in reproducing the temperature changes.

Most plants a mechanism for photosynthesis that uses a triple carbon molecule, giving the process the name C3 carbon fixation. Only in the 1960's was it recognized that some plants use a different mechanism, termed C4 carbon fixation, which makes more efficient use of the available carbon dioxide. C4 is used by largely by grasses, but evolved some 45 times in various species. While only 3 percent of all plant species use C4 carbon fixation, they account for 30 percent of the productivity of the terrestrial biosphere. Strangely, the C4 plants only became significant some 8 mya.

[Marcelv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Accessible but still informative book, which covers a rather overshadowed group of organisms; plants. Lots of interesting insights into the plant world and the evolution of plants in general.

[Martin Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and accessible to the non-scientist, so long as you have a good general knowledge.

[Donato Colangelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

My intention was to give this book a 5-star rating. The only reason, and a feeble one, for which I decided otherwise is that it is not what it promised to be - not 100% of what the premises were.
It starts with a splendid statement, which hits the mark when discussing the bibliography of Earth-sciences books: pop-science books almost totally discuss just animal evolution. Beerling is surely right in saying that there is a huge piece of information lacking from our understanding of the history of planet Earth. The problem is that for a good chunk of the book he describes and discusses... animal evolution.
I was expecting a book about the history of the evolution of plants. In certain sections, at the beginning of the book, the author analyses some elements of plant evolution; but after that, the author moves on and the rest of the book is a long dissertation of the effects of plants on the shaping of the environment without any further hint at what were the critical steps in the shaping of the different orders of plants we see around us and in the fossil record. So, if you are looking for a book about plant evolution, this is not the right book.

This said, the dissertation about the shaping of the environment is clearly part of the objectives of the book, since the title of it is crystal clear - how plants changed Earth's history. In my humble opinion, Beerling has written an outstandingly clear text for those who want an introduction to the complex net of factors that must be considered when discussing climate evolution through time. The book includes few but really exciting chapters. Having personally read animal evolution books, Beerling's one of those that emerge for the impressive new information that are thrown in the already super complex description of the Earth systems.
Give it a try, you won't regret it. Was it not for the tens of pages discussing the dynamics of Permian and Triassic extinctions (with too many details of the geology of the events, aspects that could have been destined the the already satisfying list of references at the end of the book, instead of being included in the text) and the lack of information about the evolution of plants through 2 billion years of history, I would have rated it 5 stars.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm clearing shelves and entering books I've read as I go. This is not a review as much as an impression of what I remember. The book takes an historical approach to botany and is not terribly technical. There are not too many charts, graphs and diagrams. It's well enough written but a bit dull. I'm not looking for breathless pizazz in my popular science but as an amateur I do want to be engaged. Perhaps the historical approach doesn't suit me - I want to be informed and surprised and not to wade through detailed history. Of course references to historical figures and their significance are fine but, for me, skip the minutiae. It could be that Botany, as vital as it is, just doesn't hold my interest the way Zoology does. This is not a bad book but just not right for me. 3 stars ( a personal rating )

[Zoë]

This would have been a great lecture series. I'm not saying I need lots of pictures and a person to explain me all the complicated things but with topics such as this, where my interest begins to dwindle/I know just enough for my attention to wanter and my mind to gloss over a little, an enthusiastic narrator who shows you the things he's talking about is very advantageous. Do I wish I was more interested in geography/evolutionary history? Heck, yeah, (and if this were a lecture series I'd probably be glued to the content) but for my own reading I just couldn't bring enough enthusiasm to the table to profit from this. Very much a me-problem. I think I would have been more interested if the book actually focused on plants more.

[Carlos · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book suffers from a few disconnects in its progression. Beerling starts the book mentioning his aim to revolutionize the way we think about plant evolution, then he spends about the same amount of time talking about plant evolution as climate science, the history of science, and several other tangents. The end result is an unsettling reading experience where long historical introductions in each chapter are followed by tangentially-connected discussions of how plants impact climate science, before a few morsels on how plants evolved, and on to the next chapter where the cycle repeats. Perhaps a reader expecting this meandering style and not particularly attached to wanting to learn about plant evolution will enjoy this book more.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a lot of fun, if probably out of date as of 2022 (I don't follow plant news closely enough to know). It's reasonably dense and you'll want a basic high school level knowledge of chemistry in order to properly enjoy it. But I loved his enthusiasm and there were many moments in this book that I found completely charming. Caveat: He spends a good portion of the book talking about rocks, not plants. I love rocks. I was happy to read about rocks. I just was expecting a bit more about plants from a plant book.

[Jim Mastro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Beerling clearly laid out the many ways that plants have shaped our planet, affecting its geology, its weather, its climate, and the development and evolution of animal life. I knew snippets of this before, but nowhere near the whole story. It was absolutely fascinating. Definitely recommended if you are interested in the life history of our planet. Can be a bit technical in places, but even if you don't have a science background the material is accessible. Recommended.

[Zoë · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was enjoyable and readable, with a few terrifying sections concerning climate change. I knew about quite a lot of the scientific discoveries mentioned but I liked reading about the historical context and the people whose pioneering work helped us understand the effect of plant life on earth systems and their ability to tell is about the climates of the past.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, solid. Compelling thesis. Riveting way to make botany as interesting as it should be. But a bit disorganized, and I don’t think the author hits the main point home quite strongly enough. I thought about 5 stars for the frank appreciation it gives science, but kept it at 4 for the points mentioned above.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating about plants and also gives a good insight into how science works. The only problem is this is the author’s first popular science book and sometimes he forgets who he is writing for especially in the early chapters. There were occasions when the explanations needed more explaining.

[Steve Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating book that looks at geological history from a very different perspective. I've now moved on to the author's other book: Making Eden, which, with hindsight, I would have preferred to read first.

[Alex Kahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent survey of geology and botany over evolutionary timescales. Cheerfully covers scientific history without excess, and entertains multiple hypotheses/opinions with only minimal technical excess. Inspiring - would recommend to complement prominent animal-centric surveys of evolution.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a bit of a slow start with this book, but once I got into it I found it fascinating. The main thesis is in the title, and the author patiently and carefully demonstrates how plants have influenced the climate on Earth.

[Danielle Olenych · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative

Love how well and easy this read was . Understanding how plants influenced and impacted our world around us. And the effects the human race contributes to global warming on a large scale . The forests, swamps , and plant life are crucial to our survival