Hi Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho,
There are many ways for you to find out answers for your questions. To mention a few:
1)Now you are in Gama brain frequency. In meditation, you can gradually move into Beta, Alpha Theta, and Delta. When you reach Delta you try to see the history backward. You will find earth was a paradise to start with filled with even more provisions (with all the now extinct species).
2)or you can go to a professional Past Regression Therapist and tell him you want to see your own past births. He will take you into Delta frequency and you would see the same things what I said above—with yourself being present there through each phases earth moved. He will also give you a CD with recordings of things of what yourself said while watching your indefinite number of past lives.