530 million years ago the very first creatures emerged from the oceans to
finally lay claim to the land, thanks to which we now have the pleasure of
walking on solid ground.
But, like any joys in life, it may come to an end
sooner or later, as by the year 2100, ocean levels will have risen by a little
over two feet, or 66 cm.
And as more time passes, even more land will sink
into the depths of the world’s seas and oceans.
Many people will simply have to at least partially return to an aquatic
way of life.
So then, the question is: Will this cause us evolve back
into aquatic or semi-aquatic sea creatures?
Unfortunately for us, most of the inhabitants of the oceans have seriously
“jacked up their game” and improved their aquatic skills while we were
lazily puttering around on the land.
The amphipods are a good example.
Living at the bottom of our oceans, , these crustaceans can withstand - on each
and every single square centimeter of their bodies - the crushing
deep sea pressure of 1125 kilograms!
Man, of course, is unlikely to also want to live in the deepest
parts of our world ocean.
But if we pick out randomly just about any other
point on the ocean floor, we find an average ocean depth of 4,023 meters
below sea level, and pressures at that depth are still pretty harsh.
A casual stroll through such a terrain would find us
with a devastating force pressing down upon us equal to roughly 14 loaded cement
trucks.
It might seem at first glance that such pressures would quickly
turn one into a flattened pancake, but as we ourselves are made mostly
of water, we would die for another reason: the gas in our blood and lungs
would begin to condense and compress, causing unbearable suffering...
before, obviously, causing our death.
But if, somehow, you were to miraculously survive such an indignity, upon
swimming higher to escape the crushing pressures below, you would find
yourself finished off for sure by decompression sickness, also known as
The Bends!
The nitrogen that we normally inhale as part of the air we
breathe will literally boil when the pressure lessens.
As a result, your blood will become poisoned and deprived of oxygen,
and - again - you will expire, accompanied by truly excruciating pain.
However, these are not our greatest problems.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to the development of our underwater
world will be the simple fact that we cannot actually breathe under water!
For one thing, the surface area of our human lungs is just too darn small.
And secondly, they do not allow for the extraction of oxygen from any
liquid that exists... except for one: something called perfluorocarbon.
This substance - which carries oxygen and carbon dioxide - is 4 times richer
in these gasses than our own human blood.
If you fill the human lungs with such a solution, this will not
only solve the problem of breathing liquids, but also save us from even the
strongest and most crushing deep-sea pressure.
True, this technology is not presently used for diving, but to provide
astronauts with oxygen, and also to help rehabilitate premature babies.
So, in actuality, to create a diving apparatus that uses perfluorocarbon,
a great deal of scientific and technological effort will need to be expended.
However, in the future we can avoid such complications altogether.
It will be enough to simply implant a special kind
of crystal into a person’s lips, which will itself extract oxygen directly
from sea or fresh water.
This miracle invention was created in Denmark.
Due to the presence of cobalt, this almost magical crystal is able to extract
oxygen from almost any liquid, which will be quite useful in the case of
the coming future global flood situation.
Along with this device there is another truly mind-boggling and amazing invention:
artificial gills These are printed on a 3D printer by a Japanese
inventor and
designer by the name of Jun Kamei.
This amazing novelty is - in its functionality - similar to the aforementioned
crystal, only with an improved and fairly stylish design.
Nevertheless, even such bold devices for underwater breathing will not be
able to make an Aquaman or Aquawoman out of everyone.
And without such technology, we will be completely powerless and at the
mercy of the grand, Earth- spanning world ocean.
Ultimately, only those who can evolve will survive...
But remarkably, for some of us, that evolution has already begun...
Let’s take a look at the Bajaw people, or, as they are also
called, sea gypsies.
These people have been living semi-aquatic lives for
centuries, and as a result their bodies have undergone certain genetically
inherited changes.
In the first place, the Bajaw have a spleen 2 times larger
than that of ordinary human beings.
During a dive, a Bajaw spleen shrinks and releases additional hemoglobin, resulting
in their blood being saturated with oxygen.
As a result of this, the Bajaw people are able to spend as
much as an astounding 13 minutes under water without any equipment!
Using this long time underwater, the Bajaw have become extraordinarily
adept undersea hunters.
They can catch valuable fish that others simply can’t.
Additionally, the Bajaw people can see perfectly well even in muddy
waters: their underwater vision being much better developed than that of
Europeans.
These amazing people are also adapted perfectly to cold water
temperatures.
Marine mammals keep quite warm due to their extra layers
of fat.
But the Bajaw are incredibly slim, and in excellent physical shape.
Their bodies do not shiver due to hypothermia, and their skin never gets
too warm.
This is because their bodies channel resources into warming and
oxygenating their internal organs.
They also have no need for over- developed musculature, as big muscles are
an extra expense requiring large amounts of precious oxygen.
And still, when there is a deficit of O2, Bajaw bodies are much better adapted to oxygen
starvation.
However, if nature has genetically awarded some amazing abilities to these
Bajaw sea gypsies, others they acquire themselves.
Some Bajaw intentionally rupture their eardrums when
they are young in order to improve their diving skills.
As a result, many of the adults of these amazing aquatic people are hard of hearing.
This is one of the costs of becoming a real human amphibian.
It should be noted that the Bajaw are not the only
people whose bodies have adapted to life in the water.
There are also the Moken, the Orang laut,
and the Urak Lawoi - and no, I did not make up those names - among
many other tribes of real live existing on Earth aquamen and
aquawomen...or should I say aquapeople?
Anyway, this gives us hope that the evolution of the rest of humanity could
also move in the direction of our seas and oceans.
Already, individual human divers can hold their breath longer than a sea
otter, dive deeper than a walrus, and swim faster than a manatee.
There is actually a theory regarding human evolution
that posits that humans are descended from so-called water monkeys.
This hypothesis - called the Aquatic Ape Theory - was advanced by the marine
biologist Alistair Hardy.
The scientist noticed that many great apes can walk upright, but they do it
only when they are walking through water.
Hardy believes that our human straight posture and upright walking is the
result of a - for a period of time - semi-aquatic lifestyle that some of our ancestors
adopted.
Our general lack of thick hair on our faces and bodies, and
the extra fat under our skin additionally could be the result of our species
having adapted for living in
water sometime in prehistory.
Most scientists reject Hardy’s theory, considering it to be pseudoscientific.
But I am intrigued at the very least.
What do you think?
Be sure to leave your opinion in the comments below!
However, if the eminent English biologist is wrong and early human
ancestors didn’t return to the water for some time, anthropologist Matthew
Skinner from the University of Kent, believes we will do so in the future.
M In his opinion, global warming will turn people into a something resembling seals!
He suggests that the volume of our lungs will decrease, our limbs
will lengthen, and skin membranes will appear between our fingers
and toes, giving us webbed hands and feet.
This will help us move better along the streets, avenues,
and boulevards of our future flooded cities.
He speculates that our human eye will evolve into something that looks
like cats eyes, so that we can see better in the dark and muddy waters.
And to preserve heat, he believes our bodies will become covered with additional
layers of fat.
In general, in the not too distant future, on our rocky shores
there will be an opportunity to see how packs of fur seals fight with seal-men
for fish and territory.
That is, of course, if you believe Matthew Skinner...
But even such a dramatic change in appearance would not allow a person
to lead a full-time underwater life.
So that we could survive 100% in the depths of the sea, the changes required would
need to be even more dramatic and all-encompassing.
For breathing, it is desirable to have not artificial gills, but real ones.
Or at least to increase our lungs ability to
capture more oxygen from the air, to store for later when we are
underwater, as dolphins do.
When inhaling, marine mammals absorb 80% of the oxygen in a breath, humans - only 17%.
The respiratory system of humans must also necessarily be separated
from our mouths, so that we have the opportunity to eat underwater without
drowning, which, by the way, tends to dehydrate a person.
Since our aqua-diets will be lacking in vitamin C and D, our bodies will need to be
restructured so as to dispense with them.
It will also be necessary to alter the structure of the ear, in order
to avoid the bursting of our eardrums, and the nose - to minimize pressure
on the skull.
As we will be substantially lighter, we will also need some kind
of additional protective frame.
It also wouldn’t hurt if we could acquire the
ability to arbitrarily control our own metabolisms, and our heartrates, the
better to move our bodies into various different “working” modes for
different activities.
In short, getting down to the brass tacks of the matter, we need something
like a thousand years of evolution, which, however much we might desire
such a stretch of adaptation time, it will not keep up with the rapid pace of
global warming.
Therefore, it probably would be better to keep the land we
have now, if we humans can possibly manage such a thing.
If you liked the video, put your thumb up, and subscribe.
And if you haven’t already done it - press the bell to get notified
of future episodes!
Believe me: you don’t wanna miss a thing!
Oh yeah, and don’t forget to tell all your friends about your pal Ridddle!