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Climate Trends and Hominid Evolution

The climate over the past 8 million years has fluctuated but tended to get cooler overall. Variation in temperature increased closer to the present. New hominid species developed slowly until around 3 million years ago when many began emerging rapidly, supporting Dr. Potts' theory that this was an adaptation to the cooling climate. Fire is linked to climate change as global warming caused higher temperatures. While Neanderthals existed for 300,000 years and Homo sapiens have been present for under 200,000 years, current climate change conditions differ in that weather is more extreme now but humans have more tools to adapt and protect from the elements than our ancestors.

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3 views1 page

Climate Trends and Hominid Evolution

The climate over the past 8 million years has fluctuated but tended to get cooler overall. Variation in temperature increased closer to the present. New hominid species developed slowly until around 3 million years ago when many began emerging rapidly, supporting Dr. Potts' theory that this was an adaptation to the cooling climate. Fire is linked to climate change as global warming caused higher temperatures. While Neanderthals existed for 300,000 years and Homo sapiens have been present for under 200,000 years, current climate change conditions differ in that weather is more extreme now but humans have more tools to adapt and protect from the elements than our ancestors.

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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

1) Describe the patterns you see in the temperature (climate) record in the time frame beginning

about 8 million years ago to the present. What is the overall trend in temperature over that period?
How does variation in temperature change over the timeline shown?
The Climate fluctuated but tended to get cooler. It tends to car widely as you get closer to present
day.

2) The red bars show the period of time in which new species of hominids appear in the fossil
record. What patterns do you see in the appearance of new hominid species? Is there a period in
the timeline where new species are appearing more rapidly? If so, what, according to Dr. Potts
theory might account for those changes? Is his theory supported?
New species of hominids slowly developed until around 3 million years ago and many different
species began developing. Our ancestors may have been adapting to the cooling climate and
evolving rapidly. Yes

3) Choose one of the important milestones, shown in blue on the interactive, and explain how that
milestone might be linked to a change in climate.
Fire can be linked to a change in climate, global warming causing the world the warm.

4) Neanderthals, our closest hominid relative, was present, at least in the fossil record, for a period
of about 300,000 years. Homo sapiens have only been around for a little less than 200,000 years.
We know that our current climate is warning. How are conditions and the potential for our adaptation
to climate change different now? Be sure to include both positive and negative differences.

Weather is more extreme now than it was, we are also less likely to adapt any more than we
already have because we have many tools to protect from the elements that our ancestors
didnt.

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