ABSTRACT
A fundamental pattern consists in the development of new solutions to the problem of "making a living", e.g. photosynthesis, the eukaryotic cell, multicellularity, evolutionary "arms races", and novel symbioses and convolution, to name the most important ones. One of the most fascinating modem insights is that the biosphere's development thus was neither only an adjustment to the physical conditions present on Earth, nor only an adaptation of organisms to each other in evolutionary arms races, but also a process wherein species developed their "ways of living" in co-evolution, symbiosis, and niche construction, and where organic life even influenced the inorganic, physical conditions on this planet – where climate and life have coevolved. In the biospheric perspective, the appearance of humanity has so far barely been an episode, though one that is currently in the process of rivaling natural forces in shaping biogeochemical cycles, and catastrophic impact events in causing impoverishment of the biosphere.
