1100 million years ago, all the modern continents were part of one massive continent called Rodinia, surrounded by the enormous Panthalassic Ocean. At this time, most of the continents now located in the southern hemisphere were to be found North of the Equator, and the majority of the modern Northern continents lay South! Antarctica was almost in the middle, which means it would have much warmer than it is today.

Later, about 750 million years ago, Rodinia split into two halves and opened the Panthalassic Ocean.  North America moved slowly southwards, and became the southern half of Rodinia.  The northern half, which included Antarctica and Australia, moved northwards across the freezing arctic waters.

Between the two gigantic halves of what was once Rodinia lay a third, smaller continent - the Congo craton. By the end of the Precambrian era, rougly 550 million years ago, the three continents collided to form a new supercontinent, much like Rodinia, called Pannotia, only this time, after having travelled round the world once, the continents were in their rightful places; or nearly. At least the Northern countries were for the most part in the North, and the Southern ones in the South!

During the Precambrian era, the world experienced drastic changes in temperature. Most of the planet was covered by perennial ice, a fact which puzzles scienists today. Some have speculated that in those days, the Earth might have had a different axis, which would mean that for half the year, one hemisphere froze while the other baked, and vice-versa for the next half-year. Another theory is that our planet was once surrounded by rings of debris, much like Saturn, and that these cast cooling shadows over the Earth. However, there is no proof that either of these theories is anything more that speculation.

The most likely theory is that the entire planet was completely frozen and covered in ice: oceans, continents...everything. This seems to better explain certain features found in rocks from that period, and is also less far-fetched, considering how 'temperamental' the Earth's temperature has been over the millenia. This frigid epoch was called a global Ice House, which meant that only the equatorial continents (including part of Antarctica!) enjoyed a less-than-frozen climate.

Later on, the supercontinent of Gondwana was formed, and in it nestled Antarctica. Most of the land was flooded by shallow seas, and the first life began to appear on the planet in the form of monocellular beings, plantlife, and later, simple crustaceans.

The supercontinent Pannotia, mentioned above, began to break up into smaller continents by the end of the Paleozoic Era. The new Iapetus ocean was born, and it widened between the continents of Laurentia (North America), Baltica (Northen Europe) and Siberia. At this time, Gondwana was the largest continent, stretching from the Equator to as far as the South Pole and beyond. Antarctica was still relatively warm.

The end of the Ordovician Era was the coldest our planet ever got in its long history. Ice covered almost all land and sea, and most of Gondwana was frozen. The lastest Ice Age, roughly 20 million years ago today, was much warmer than the end of the Ordovician Era, though frigid.

During the Silurian Era, Laurentia collided with Baltica, closing up the Iapetus ocean. This mega collision led to the birth of many Northern mountain ranges that are still around today. The first coral reefs were appearing by know and plants had begun to spread acrss the barren land from the coast to the centre.

By the Devonian Era the primitive oceans were closing, and the continents were sliding towards each other to form the future supercontinent, Pangea, where dinosaurs would roam. Fish began to appear in the Oceans in huge numbers. They evolved more complex bodies and terrible jaws, becoming the top predators of their age. The first forests were born in what is now North Canada, and vegetation became incredibly abundant so that Earth, once an icy wasteland, became lush and fertile.

By the end of the Carboniferous, the Norther continents had collided with Gondwana to form the Western half of Pangea. During the early Permian the Southern half of Pangea was glaciated. This included Antarctica and Australia.

When the reign of the dinosaurs ended, Pangea had again split, this time into what would one day become our modern-day continents. The climate was so warm and humid that there were palm trees growing  in the Polar Regions! This was because of warm equatorial water currents sweeping towards the poles and warming them. The planet hasn't been that warm since before the latest Ice Age. Sea levels were hundreds of meters higher thatn they are today. So much for Global Warming!!!

Around 53 million years ago, India set on a collision course towards the rest of Asia, and the clash that occured formed the Himalayas. This period was the middle of the Eocene. Australia detatched itself from Antarctica and began to move North.

18 million years ago, Antarctica began to freeze over in anticipation of a new Ice Age, and the sea levels began to fall, though parts of Asia and America were still submerged.

When the Ice Age hit, all of Antarctica was covered with ice and snow, as was the Arctic and North America. The sea levels began to go down, and migration routes opened for many animal species between the islands and continents. Proper seasons began to take shape over the years, probably due to the cooling climate.

We are at the end of this Ice Age, and theworld is warming up again. This is also thanks to greenhouse gases humans are releasing into the atmosphere. Global Warming is the product of these factors, and one thing is certain: it cannot be prevented. But, if humankind work together as one, we may cleance the atmosphere and go on living peacefully and in harmony with our lovely world.

All above images taken from www.scotese.com.