Understanding Climate's Influence on Human Evolution (2010) / Chapter Skim
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5 Conclusions and Recommendations85
5 Conclusions and Recommendations85
Pages 85-92
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From page 85... ...
This report has identified research themes and initiatives designed to describe and understand possible causative linkages between human evolution and Earth climate history. Our recommendations depend on building a strong international network of scientific collaborators engaged in a systematic research strategy, and are designed to generate broad and significant impact in national science education and the engagement of diverse audiences in the excitement and understanding of science.
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From page 86... ...
These initiatives are presented in two major research themes: Research Themes Theme I: Determining the Impacts of Climate Change and Climate Variability on Human Evolution and Dispersal Hypotheses linking climate change and hominin evolution are based on indications that large-scale shifts in climate or climate variability altered the landscape ecology which, in turn, presented specific adaptive or speciation pressures that lead to genetic selection and innovation. However, efforts to test such hypotheses are fundamentally data limited, constrained by gaps or poorly-studied intervals in the fossil and archaeological record, coupled with the highly variable fossil density from different time periods and regions; the inconsistent collection of all components of available fossil
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From page 87... ...
As well as the high-precision records of climate change that are required from long stratigraphic sequences located close to hominin sites, lake and ocean drilling records will be needed to integrate local climate records from hominin sedimentary basins with regional and global records. Understanding past climates depends on a range of data that can be used to quantitatively reconstruct the range of climatic variables -- temperature, precipitation, seasonality, vegetation and land cover, paleo-altitude, etc.
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From page 88... ...
The large-scale record of climate change over the past 8 Ma is reasonably well known, although much remains to be understood about the interactions and feedbacks among the various climate forcing factors. At issue are the relative influences on African and Eurasian climate from orbital monsoonal forcing, highlatitude ice volume changes, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2)
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From page 89... ...
Each component of such a program -- including truck-mounted terrestrial drilling, barge-mounted lake drilling, and ocean drilling -- would provide complementary elements that could be integrated to describe the paleoclimatic, paleohydrologic, and paleovegetation history of specific regions. • A major investment in climate modeling experiments for the key time intervals and regions that are critical for understanding human evolution, to describe the regional climate patterns and fundamental climate forcing mechanisms, and to model at a more local scale the interactions between climate, ecosystems, and species population dynamics.
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From page 90... ...
An important corollary requirement will be speedy community access to samples and their derived data within all of the disciplinary areas encompassed by this initiative -- the hominin fossils and their associated fauna and flora; as well as the ocean, lake, and terrestrial drilling samples and data. The coordination and management of a major international scientific program for International Climate and Human Evolution Research would require a small science advisory structure, with members representing the broader scientific community and with a broad vision of how these research components relate to each other, to foster communication among disciplinary groups, coordinate the implementation elements, and convey the science community's priorities to funding agencies.
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From page 91... ...
• Establish a National/International Educator Institute as a long-term effort that employs climate–evolution research to enhance professional educator development. • Establish internships that connect students and teachers to the international scope and nature of scientific research on past climate change and human evolution.
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From page 92... ...
The research agenda described here, although presenting a bold vision that will require substantial resources to bring it to reality, offers an opportunity to make equally bold steps toward an understanding of the role played by past climates in the evolution of our ancestral lineage.
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