ABSTRACT
In this chapter we focus on life and living things. We examine the narrow margin of planet Earth that is able to support life and glimpse at its vulnerable, delicate, yet at times resilient, nature. In order to appreciate how living things function in their environment it is necessary to take a giant step back in time, back to the very beginning and explore our current understanding of how the Universe and eventually planet Earth began. Having got thus far we follow the unpredictable pathway of evolution and focus on just one of the mass extinctions experienced in the history of life on Earth. We conclude with a summary of our own evolution and the impact we are having on the planet in the short expanse of time we have existed. By considering the unpredictability of our actions, and the possible future demise of not just ourselves but many hundreds of species as well, we ask the question ‘When will environmental education be taken seriously?’
