Q. WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE?
DISCUSS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CLIMATE AS
AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN SHAPING HUMAN HISTORY.
CLIMATE & CLIMATE CHANGE
The most simplistic understanding of climate is the long-term average in temperatures and weather
patterns. Austrian climatologist Julius Hann wrote that climate is 'the sum total of the meteorological
phenomena that characterize the average condition of the atmosphere at any one place on the earth's
surface’ (Hann,1897).
However, James R. Fleming took into consideration a much broader understanding of climate. He
described it as more than just the average atmospheric conditions compiled from weather. He further
argued that climate was the lived experience providing frameworks for the material possibilities of life,
inseparable from temporality and specificity (Fleming, 2014). Climate can further be understood as the
fabric that shapes human life by connecting the human past and future.
The United Nations defines ‘Climate Change’ as the long-term shifts in temperatures and weather
patterns. Such shifts can be natural, due to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions.
However, anthropogenic causes have contributed largely to the escalation of climate change. Most
scientists accept the view that human effects on global climate began during the 1800s and have grown
steadily since that time. Since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change,
primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.
As renowned climate scientist Michael E. Mann notes, "Earth's climate has always been in flux, but
what's happening now is different—it's happening much faster than in Earth's recent history, and we're the
dominant cause" (Mann, 2021).
WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE?
CLIMATE SHAPING HUMAN HISTORY
Climate and biological evolution have interacted throughout Earth’s history. The role of
climate in the origin and adaptations of humans relates not only to our past, but also to
our future. Climate change has been a significant factor in human evolution, shaping
the development of our species long before recorded history.
During the Pleistocene epoch (roughly 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago), Earth experienced
dramatic climate oscillations with multiple glacial and interglacial periods. These climate
shifts had profound effects on our ancestors:
1. Adaptive pressures: Environmental changes pushed early hominins to evolve or move
away. As East African forests yielded to more open savannas around 2-3 million years
ago, this most probably helped develop bipedalism because upright walking became more
economical in open habitats.
2. Dietary versatility: Climate unpredictability resulted in fluctuating food resources, being
advantageous to omnivorous organisms that were capable of modifying diets. This
selection pressure most probably played a key role in developing bigger brains to solve
intricate issues regarding the sourcing and processing of varied foods.
3. Development of tools: When environments fluctuated, early humans created advanced
tools to exploit new resources. For instance, cooling and drying phases that contracted
forest cover can have sped up the necessity of tools to work with hard plant foods and to
hunt in open habitats.
4. Migration patterns: Climate changes opened and closed migration routes, affecting
human dispersal between continents. For example, during glacial times, reduced sea
levels formed land bridges (such as Beringia between Asia and North America), while
interglacial warming made the northern latitudes more livable.
5. Social complexity: Variable environments may have favored enhanced social
cooperation and information exchange since groups that could efficiently share
knowledge and resources enjoyed improved survival probabilities during difficult periods
of climate shift.
One prime example is the development of Homo sapiens in Africa about 300,000 years
ago at a time of high climate variability. Environmental instability could have promoted the
cognitive adaptability and flexibility that define our species and eventually allowed us to
occupy diverse environments globally.
These climatically driven evolutionary pressures set the stage for subsequent human
developments, such as the eventual shift to agriculture as climate stabilized in the
Holocene.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
● Ruddiman, W. F. (2005). ‘Climate and Human History’. In Plows, Plagues, and
Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of Climate (REV-Revised, Vol. 46, pp. 5–12).
Princeton University Press. [Link]
● Behrensmeyer, A. K. (2006). Climate Change and Human Evolution. Science,
311(5760), 476–478. [Link]
● Fleming, J. R. (2014). Climate, Change, History. Environment and History, 20(4), 577–
586. [Link]
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