What if Antarctica Was A Green Continent?

johann gottfried GAO was searching for something a mysterious theorized planet since Uranus is discovery in the 1750s astronomers noticed it had an irregular orbit it was hypothesized for decades that there was another far more distant planet affecting it in 1846 while pointing his telescope at the night sky Gao founded the eighth planet Neptune located 4.4 billion kilometres from Earth it was so dim that it was discovered using mathematics and the laws of gravity just 30 years earlier the first human set eyes on Antarctica we observed seven out of the eight planets of our solar system before knowing about the existence of a landmass larger than Australia and that's simply because Antarctica is a world of ice difficult for any human to travel to until the 19th century before those glaciers he was as diverse in life as any other continent that was until 35 million years ago when the earth's temperature plummeted Antarctica's native fauna and vegetation having nowhere to go separated on all sides by ocean eventually dwindled and became extinct so what if this was never the case what if Antarctica was a green continent [Music] during the Eocene epoch from 56 to 33 million years ago the entire earth was farmed warmer than it is today according to NOAA it was from 9 to 14 degrees Celsius hotter on average or around 16 to 25 degrees hotter for American viewers while it doesn't seem like much of a change this had drastic results even in regions near the poles there have been found fossils of palms and flora that only could have existed in warm climate Antarctica's coast at this time would have resembled Florida or Southern California thanks to a higher concentration of co2 in the atmosphere and warm ocean currents brushing up against Antarctica's coasts we have an equivalent scenario today with Europe which ranges from a temperate to Mediterranean climate despite being the latitude of Canada without the North Atlantic Current Europe would resemble in many ways Russia a city like Moscow doesn't have access to the warm air from the ocean as a city like Dublin which is why their climate differs so much despite being near the same latitude 50 million years ago Antarctica probably had the same gradual transition of biomes much like Europe this is where I want this alternate timeline to begin the global climate remains the same that it was during the middle Yassin the continents still shift like in our timeline same map as the present day the climate is just different to allow Antarctica to not be this I know it's absurd you know it is and while it's scientifically improbable for Antarctica to remain green let's go full alien space beds and roll with it 50 million years ago Antarctica had too closely connected neighbors South America and Australia allowed for terrestrial mammals and other animals to cross between the three which leads to the first question what type of mammals would have actually populated Antarctica there are three types of mammal groups while centel's those that give live birth through the womb monotremes the weirdos that lay eggs and marsupials whose young goes inside their pouch which acts as an outside womb there are far more differences but these are the most notable distinctions placentals and marsupials diverged from one another a hundred and sixty million years ago when the earth looked like this and even though both before that asteroid ended the Dino reign were small and mouse-like they were still distinct groups and once the Dinos were gone the competition began marsupials surprisingly evolved in North America some of which migrated south right before Pangaea split apart placental mammals thrived in the northern continent Eurasia eventually replacing marsupials on their own original home but down south and Gondwana marsupials were starting to evolve in South America filling new niches and those marsupials crossed farther south into a still green lush Antarctica by 50 million years ago a few had even reached into Australia diversifying into the strange fauna that populates the continent today Antarctica could have been or at least would have been Joseph's rich in marsupial life as South America once had or Australia still has Australia before the arrival of humans had large megafauna perhaps Antarctica had the very same especially since marsupials crossed into this continent first since South America would lose its large marsupials once colliding with North America which is an entire story in itself by an alternate modern day the only two continents with large marsupial megafauna would be Antarctica and Australia Australia is practically one large desert except for the east coast the good coast but Antarctica would be full of dense forests and large mountainous biomes the trans Antarctic range is the sixth largest range on earth longer than the Urals Appalachia and the Himalayas perhaps given the chance we could see strange Alpine marsupials convergently evolving to fill the same niche as mountain goats or Cougars Antarctica would have its own vast range of unique animals but evolved over 50 million years to become stranger indistinctly unique to the land mask even with the land being generally warm the Earth's axis wouldn't change which means living on Antarctica would still be strange because of well the seasons themselves Antarctica only has two seasons summer and winter and during the winter there is no Sun for four months while during the summer there is constant daylight for the life on this continent the natural pattern of the seasons simply doesn't exist and be a land of extremes for plants if there were large forests they would lose their leaves even during mild or not winter conditions simply to retain energy without the sunlight so with all that said was gaming weirder let's add some humans okay stick with me without Antarctica's ice and a far far warmer planet humans and certainly the modern 21st century civilization we see today would not exist think about the coastlines and how dramatically that changes the fate of every influential civilization of our own history but let's have some fun with this idea don't take any of this really seriously it's just a thought experiment the rest of the world is at the normal temperature and history is entirely unaffected in such an alternate timeline there wouldn't be any humans that set foot on the continent at least until recently human migration across the continents occurred during a time of lowered sea levels even into Australia but there never would be a possible land bridge between Antarctica and the rest of the world Antarctica would remain a time capsule left to its own localized ecosystem for 30 million years until that is the arrival of the first humans so who would be the first ones to colonize this land well I'd assume it'd probably be around the 1200s to 1400s by the Polynesians the Polynesians blow my mind in how they successfully colonize so much of the Pacific finding just small volcanic islands thousands of miles away from home if Antarctica never had ice the first people who probably would have landed onto the continent would have been the Maori sailing south from New Zealand word spreads of a giant unknown land far south and explorations begin alongside the coast let's just assume the temperature of the coast line remains tropical like it was in the Eocene this continent is still a strange land for any humans that set foot on it imagine what unique marsupials and animals from South America could have diversified into for the Maori to see this habitable warm continent for four months out of the year is in complete darkness for a people who had the Sun in moon as gods and their mythology periods where they simply don't appear could have profound impact on how they viewed this land or the legends of a new culture entire traditions and events occurring annually with the disappearance arrival of the Sun if there was a period of eternal night every year perhaps this is prime opportunity for mushrooms and fungus native to the land to spread in the dark making this land while Polynesian a truly distinct an almost mystical area depending on how far inland they go I could imagine any megafauna on the coast losing numbers drastically historically humans arriving anywhere doesn't work out for the local animals as history continues on eventually the Age of Exploration goes into effect Europe [Music] funny enough Europeans would believe that Antarctica exists even before actually seeing or ever hearing about it for centuries there is a legend amongst explorers just like El Dorado or Prester John the mythical Christian king of Asia the idea of Terra Australis a fabled massive continent in the southern hemisphere proposed by Ptolemy it was the rival Eurasia because the world had to be balanced of course in our timeline after centuries of exploration only one new landmass was found to be farther than any other the Dutch called it New Holland because of course they did once the British took over Australia was deemed to be a more suitable name there is no probability that any other detached body of land of nearly equal extent will ever be found in a more southern latitude the name Terra Australis will therefore remain descriptive of the geographical importance of this country yeah about that since Australia was already awkwardly given that name once Antarctica was eventually discovered difficult ice to sail through we'll do that another name now had to be given uh well what's the opposite of Arctic and so Antarctica was given its name without the ice Antarctica would be discovered probably around the same time as New Holland it'd be an actually habitable landmass with subtle people and the farthest most continent just like the legend said Australis the Australia of our timeline would probably just be called a New Holland which I don't think anyone really would have stuck with a Lamora which James Cook thought that the Maori referred Australia as but is actually another Island or perhaps Sahul from the first Dutch names of the region the interesting thing with European colonization of Antarctica or now called Australia is it'd be on the exact opposite side of the continent as the native inhabitants at least for a time since the best shipping to the Pacific would be through the Drake Passage Europeans accident we discover Antarctica by its northernmost island what kept explorers from discovering the Antarctic Peninsula in our own timeline was the ICC a barrier basically discouraging any further exploration south even Captain Cook had to turn back during his voyage saying screw this if there is a Terra Australis it isn't worth it without that obstacle Antarctica or at least it's two islands are found far sooner a race for this new continent is assured a new Antarctic colony probably wouldn't work out fantastically for Spain in the long run considering how their own Empire was looking around the 18th century the Dutch really only cared about trading partners so maybe a few near the Polynesians most likely the British would be the Empire to settle the most people on the continent how successful any European colonization effort would be as well up to debate the Falklands which is the closest in terms of British colonies was abandoned on one occasion due to economic hardships just like any venture it's likely expeditions are made and since it's so far south the difficulty was settling Australia is those four months of darkness and a time before electricity the only natural light would be from the moon or fire fire in itself requires fuel for any people living there for assert constantly cut down or colas mind even for the British this land could put strains on their empire any venture into Antarctica is dominated by the cycle of two seasons camps and colonies seen an influx of people in the summer done a large portion of the population sailing away for the winter leaving a few behind half of the year perhaps these colonists sail back to the Falklands or maybe even to South Africa to wait out the winter now while the skies on occasion could be beautiful the landscape mysteriously shines with Aurora Australis it'd be a challenge to permanently settle especially for a 18th to 19th century colonists this might seem like being on another planet inspiring for literature across the English world of course but to live on perhaps not agriculture doesn't see the typical harvests of the rest of the world planting season begins as soon as the Sun arrives harvest right before the winter sets in it'd probably be a pain for any herder months of protecting their animals from any Antarctic predators in the winter night a months of dealing with constant Sun how wood farm animals not adapted with monks of constant night and day live in such an environment well I don't know but certainly not in a way beneficial to a poor colonial farmer unless there was some major economic incentive like Saint Gold with Australia Antarctica for European empires and a pre electricity civilization isn't the most coveted place it's a mysterious land at the bottom of the world but it's not going to be easy to encourage colonists to move down there since the bat still hasn't gone away any effort to colonize the land and have a permanent functioning society probably when it be realized until the invention of modern electricity as anyone who really doesn't like the short days of winter knows electricity isn't the best replacement at least mentally for sunlight Wallis still would be constant night during a large portion of the year now it's at least habitable and doesn't require personal resources to use like lamps but greater power grids instead [Music] so to begin wrapping all of this up it'd be interesting to see how humans actually settle in develop Antarctica what the interaction between the Polynesians and Europeans would be maybe the strange seasons are enough that it discourages investments for a while into a colony at least until the late 1930s centuries with its location near British own South Africa historically I could see the two regions being closed with most of the colonists coming from there or moving back and forth between the two whatever the fate of its colonies are if they eventually form their own independent state if given enough time it certainly result in the extinction of lineages and marsupials that existed undisturbed for millions of years even if the ice didn't wipe out these creatures humans certainly would have it be a time capsule something Antarctica really isn't seen as in our own timeline another continent while the ecosystem that lives there is fantastic and should be preserved a little part of me kind of wishes it never had the glaciers than it does today even though I do love penguins the strange mysteries it hides underneath the ice and while we look to place people on Mars this continent on our own planet is so harsh we barely pay it any mind except for a scientific research an alternate Antarctica would have been quite the strange land to inhabit even if it was night for months on end the sky would be quite the view special thanks to mr. beat who ended this video in collaboration with you should check out his new video it's fantastic [Music]

Channel: undefined

Views: 1,522,044

Rating: 4.9365554 out of 5

Keywords: AlternateHistoryHub, alternate history, Antarctica, Antartica, What if Antarctica Was Green?, What if Antarctica Never Had Ice?, Melted Antarctica, alternate antarctica, eocene, paleontology antarctica, evolution of mammals, melted glaciers

Id: zKNv0zWENlc

Length: 17min 53sec (1073 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 22 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/maproomzibz]

There's another channel called Masaman, who also did a video on which people could've settled Antarctica. He mentions the Terra Fuego natives from the Southern tip of Argentina. I wish AlternateHistoryHub included them tooo