Millions of years ago,
the Earth
looked very different.
A huge landmass,
called Pangea,
covered about a third of our planet.
But about 175 million years ago,
the Earth broke apart into continents,
and formed the world we know today.
But what if that had never happened?
If Pangea existed today,
in theory,
you could drive from California to England,
since they'd both be part of the same landmass.
And although you may only think of Pangea as
just another piece of land,
it would be much more than that.
It's played an integral part
in human and animal evolution.
If Pangea had not broken apart,
you may not be here today.
But let's assume it didn't.
And that we survived
and evolved to be the people we are today.
First, let's talk about where your country would be located.
North America would be right here.
Europe would be a lot closer, just to the east.
Asia would be up north, by Russia,
and Antarctica would remain down south.
India and Australia would be further south,
connected to Antarctica.
These countries that used to have hot climates
would now be cold, covered with snow and ice.
And those wouldn't be the only environmental changes.
Regions in the middle of Pangea
would have lush rainforests along their borders.
And as you travel further inland,
it would become a desert.
This would be due to Pangea's landmass being so large.
Rain which comes from the ocean
wouldn't be able to travel far enough inland,
leaving parts of Pangea
practically uninhabitable by humans and other species.
And weather up north would be different too,
with Russia being much warmer than it is today.
But the weather wouldn't be the only thing that would change.
On Pangea, we might have less diversity of species.
The species at the top of the food chain today
would most likely remain there,
but some of today's animals would not exist in Pangea.
They wouldn't have chance to evolve.
Fewer animals might make it easier to travel.
And on this modern version of Pangea,
you'd probably want to do a lot of it.
Luckily you wouldn't have to go far.
If you lived in Florida
you'd be right next to the Caribbean islands,
Venezuela and Brazil.
You could visit all these in a single day!
And if you lived in Nova Scotia, Canada,
you'd be driving distance from France, England, and Germany.
Although this might sound like fun,
a lot of countries would have new neighbors.
Which could cause some serious issues for some.
Places like the United States which
used to have oceans on both sides of the country,
would now have Africa on it's east cost.
If these countries didn't get along,
things could get ugly.
How much easier would it be
to start a war in another country if they were just a short drive away?
Transporting weapons, people, and supplies would all be faster and
cheaper if certain countries were right next to each other.
Or none of this would happen,
and the entire world would be more unified than ever.
With all of us sharing the same land mass,
maybe we'd learn to treat each other
just a bit better than what we do now.
Maybe if we all lived in one country,
something like this would happen.
But we'll leave that story for another WHAT IF.