Planetary Biology is a perspective that considers how the operations of living things interact with the planet – and by so doing, transform it. PlanetaryBiology.com affirms this view and extends its vision to

consider the prospects for habitable planets beyond.
In support of this planetary viewpoint, this site hosts the following four main resources:

 

 


Principles of Planetary Biology

Principles of Planetary Biology

A book I wrote that considers the operations of life from the perspective of the whole planet.

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 list of exoplanets

List of exoplanets

A sortable list of exoplanets, including habitable zone candidates.

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 exoexplorer

exoExplorer

A free Windows application for visualizing exoplanet environments.

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 PLanetary Biology Discussions

Planetary Biology Discussions

A light forum for discussing the Planetary Biology perspective and related topics.

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A brief history of life's transformation of planet Earth

Early Earth: stage 1

Early Earth, billions of years ago. The atmosphere was dominated by CO2, turning the sky a shade of brown.

Early Earth: stage 2

Starting 2.5 billion years ago, photosynthesis, in microbes and later in plants, removed much of the CO2 and produced abundant O2. N2 ascended to a greater proportion, revealing a blusish sky.

Early Earth: stage 3

Flowering plants appeared 180 million years ago. Life's presence and impact on the planet intensified, transforming the atmosphere and the environment into their modern form.

Present day Earth

Starting about 200 million years ago, continental drift redistributed the continents.

 

This scenario is an example of the Planetary Biology perspective, a view that considers the operations and influences of life in the context of the whole planet.