ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Landscape history

Okay kiddo, let's talk about how the world around us has changed over time, which is called landscape history!

A long, long time ago, when dinosaurs were around, the landscapes looked very different than they do now. There were giant volcanoes, huge oceans and thick forests, and even some places that were completely covered in ice.

As time went on, different things happened that changed the landscapes. For example, there were big events like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that would change the shape of the land in an instant. And there were smaller things like wind, rain, and sun that slowly wore away at mountains, cliffs, and rocks over time.

People have also played a big role in changing the landscapes over the years. People would clear trees to make room for farms and cities, and they built roads and bridges that made it easier to travel around. They even built dams and canals that would change the way water flowed through the land.

Today, many places around the world have been dramatically altered by these changes. Some parts of the world have become deserts because of humans cutting down too many trees, and some areas have problems with severe storms and flooding because of changes to the flow of water.

Overall, landscape history is the story of how the world around us has changed over centuries and even millions of years. It's an important thing to understand because it helps us better appreciate the beauty and complexity of the world we live in, and it can also help us make better decisions about how we interact with our planet.