EXCLUSIVE ONLINE REPORT

One Family

Richard Murphy

Over 4.5 billion years ago, when our planet first formed, biodiversity was zero. There were no species. No life.

One billion years later, life evolved from a primordial accumulation and combination of chemicals. Hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus combined and recombined into a diversity of molecules. Eventually, some of these molecules arranged themselves into membranes onto which other molecules attached. Membranes enclosed a chemical environment different from that outside and some of those entities began to accumulate more molecules — in other words, grow. Some acquired the ability to store information and then use that information to direct the development of similar molecular entities. But at some point, and through an event or processes that we still don’t understand, the spark of life ignited, and the process of evolution that continues to direct the life activities of our planet was begun.

To read entire article, download as PDF file (196KB)

A Ph.D. scientist in Marine Ecology from the University of Southern California, Murphy began working with Jacques and Jean-Michel Cousteau in 1968 and has been involved in projects and expeditions around the globe. He has served as chief scientist, photographer, writer, educator, and project director for the Ocean Futures Society, and has created many educational programs for young people in developed and developing countries. His book Coral Reefs: Cities Under the Sea offers a unique and fascinating look at how coral reefs function and what lessons they can teach us in making our own communities more sustainable.

www.oceanfutures.org

 

return to Biodiversity contents