The Future Is Wild Book

Foreword
by Professor Stephen Palumbi
Imagining the Future
by Professor R McNeill Alexander

Evolving Earth
To imagine the future, we must first look to the past. By tracing the history of life on Earth, we can begin to see the recurring patterns of evolution that will help us predict what the future may hold.
- Dynamic Earth
- Cycles of Life
- Life Lines (Geological timeline)

5 Million Years
Earth is now at the peak of an Ice age that began well before human times. Northern Europe and North America are covered by ice sheets. The world is a cold dry place where only the hardiest, most adaptable species are able to survive.
- Ice Age
- North European Ice
- The Mediterranean Basin

- The Amazon Grassland
- The North American Desert
- End of an Era

100 Million Years
Earth has enjoyed a long period of stable conditions since the last Ice age, and life has bounced back. The icecaps have melted, sea levels have risen and the world is warm and humid. It is a global hothouse, brimming with life.
- Hothouse Earth
- The Shallow Seas
- The Bengal Swamp
- The Antarctic Forest
- The Great Plateau
- Mass Extinction

200 Million Years
The planet has changed. A single, huge supercontinent shares Earth with a vast, warm ocean. It is 100 million years since the mass extinction that destroyed 95 percent of species on Earth. But evolution is probably at its most inventive after a mass extinction.
- A New Pangaea
- The Central Desert
- The Global Ocean
- The Rainshadow Desert
- The Northern Forest

- Glossary
- Index
- Picture Credits