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b'The record of the rocks is not just the history of Earth; it\\u2019s your history too.\\xa0Geologists can learn about events going back billions of years that influenced \\u2013 and even made possible \\u2013 our present-day existence and shaped our society.\\nIf the last Ice Age had been a bit warmer, the rivers and lakes of the Midwest would have been much farther north and the U.S. might still be a small country of 13 states.\\xa0If some Mediterranean islands hadn\\u2019t twisted a bit, no roads would have led to Rome.\\nGeology is big history, and the story is on-going.\\xa0Human activity is changing the planet too, and has introduced its own geologic era, the Anthropocene.\\xa0Will Earthlings of a hundred million years from now dig up our plastic refuse and study it the way we study dinosaur bones?\\nPlus, the dodo had the bad luck to inhabit a small island and couldn\\u2019t adapt to human predators.\\xa0But guess what?\\xa0It wasn\\u2019t as dumb as you think.\\nGuests:\\n\\n\\nWalter Alvarez\\xa0\\u2013 Professor of Geology, University of California, Berkeley, and author of\\xa0A Most Improbable Journey: A Big History of Our Planet and Ourselves\\n\\n\\n\\nEugenia Gold\\xa0\\u2013 Instructor, Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University\\n\\n\\nDavid Grinspoon\\xa0\\u2013\\xa0Senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, and author of\\xa0Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet\\u2019s Future\\n\\n\\nOriginally aired January 16, 2017\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'