Several million years ago, a species of small African ape gained the ability to stand upright.<ref>{{cite book |last=Margulis |first=Lynn |coauthors=Dorian Sagan |year=1995 |title=What is Life? |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |id=ISBN 0-684-81326-2}} The subsequent advent of human life, and the development of agriculture and further [[civilization]] allowed humans to affect the Earth more rapidly than any previous life form, affecting both the nature and quantity of other organisms as well as global climate. (By comparison, the [[Oxygen Catastrophe]], produced by the proliferation of algae during the [[Siderian]] period, required about 300 million years to culminate.) | Several million years ago, a species of small African ape gained the ability to stand upright.<ref>{{cite book |last=Margulis |first=Lynn |coauthors=Dorian Sagan |year=1995 |title=What is Life? |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |id=ISBN 0-684-81326-2}} The subsequent advent of human life, and the development of agriculture and further [[civilization]] allowed humans to affect the Earth more rapidly than any previous life form, affecting both the nature and quantity of other organisms as well as global climate. (By comparison, the [[Oxygen Catastrophe]], produced by the proliferation of algae during the [[Siderian]] period, required about 300 million years to culminate.) |