text: how is planet earth able to regenerate itself even after a devastating event? look at the dinosaurs. many creatures perished when a meteorite struck, but new animals developed out of the blue and populated the earth. the same thing will probably happen when humans bite the big one also earth is constantly undergoing change... on scales vastly beyond the scope of the human story.. we've hardly been in existence for a mere flicker of time compared to the planet, and life of any kind is still (relatively) a more recent chapter in the story of earth..