Where on Earth would you be if the Pangea supercontinent never broke appart?
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00:00 Millions of years ago,
00:02 the Earth looked very different.
00:06 A huge landmass called Pangaea
00:09 covered about a third of our planet.
00:13 But about 175 million years ago,
00:16 the Earth broke up into continents
00:19 and formed the world we know today.
00:23 What if that had never happened?
00:28 Where would your country be located?
00:32 And how different would your life be?
00:35 This is WHAT IF,
00:37 and here's what would happen
00:39 if Pangaea had never broken apart.
00:42 If Pangaea existed today,
00:45 in theory, you could drive from California to England,
00:49 since they'd both be part of the same landmass.
00:53 And although you may only think of Pangaea
00:55 as just another piece of land,
00:58 it would be much more than that.
01:01 It's played an integral part
01:02 in human and animal evolution.
01:05 If Pangaea had not broken apart,
01:08 you may not be here today.
01:10 But let's assume it didn't,
01:12 and that we survived and evolved
01:14 to be the people we are today.
01:16 First, let's talk about where your country would be located.
01:23 North America would be right here.
01:26 Europe would be a lot closer,
01:28 just to the east.
01:30 Asia would be up north, by Russia,
01:32 and Antarctica would remain down south.
01:35 India and Australia would be further south,
01:38 connected to Antarctica.
01:40 These countries that used to have hot climates
01:43 would now be cold,
01:44 covered with snow and ice.
01:47 And those wouldn't be the only environmental changes.
01:50 Regions in the middle of Pangaea
01:52 would have lush rainforests along their borders.
01:55 And as you travel further inland,
01:58 it would become a desert.
02:00 This would be due to Pangaea's landmass being so large.
02:04 Rain, which comes from the ocean,
02:06 wouldn't be able to travel far enough inland,
02:09 leaving parts of Pangaea practically uninhabitable
02:12 by humans and other species.
02:16 And weather up north would be different too,
02:18 with Russia being much warmer than it is today.
02:22 But the weather wouldn't be the only thing that would change.
02:25 On Pangaea, we might have less diversity of species.
02:29 The species at the top of the food chain today
02:32 would most likely remain there,
02:33 but some of today's animals would not exist in Pangaea.
02:37 They wouldn't have the chance to evolve.
02:40 Fewer animals might make it easier to travel.
02:43 And on this modern version of Pangaea,
02:46 you'd probably want to do a lot of it.
02:48 Luckily, you wouldn't have to go far.
02:50 If you lived in Florida,
02:52 you'd be right next to the Caribbean islands,
02:54 Venezuela, and Brazil.
02:56 You could visit all of these in a single day.
02:59 And if you lived in Nova Scotia, Canada,
03:02 you'd be driving distance from France,
03:04 England, and Germany.
03:06 Although this might sound like fun,
03:08 a lot of countries would have new neighbors,
03:10 which could cause some serious issues for some.
03:14 Places like the United States,
03:15 which used to have oceans on both sides of the country,
03:18 would now have Africa on its east coast.
03:22 If these countries didn't get along,
03:24 things could get ugly.
03:26 How much easier would it be
03:27 to start a war in another country
03:29 if they were just a short drive away?
03:31 Transporting weapons, people, and supplies
03:34 would all be faster and cheaper
03:36 if certain countries were right next to each other.
03:39 Or none of this would happen,
03:41 and the entire world would be more unified than ever.
03:44 With all of us sharing the same landmass,
03:47 maybe we'd learn to treat each other
03:49 just a bit better than what we do now.
03:51 Maybe if we all lived in one country,
03:54 something like this would happen.
03:56 But we'll leave that story for another WHAT IF.
04:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]