"How Climate Change May Have Shaped Human Evolution" Topic

"Earth's climate has always been in a state of flux. Ever since our ancestors branched off the primate evolutionary tree millions of years ago, the planet has faced drastic swings between moist and dry periods, as well as long-lived glacial freezes and thaws. It's clear that early humans were able to survive such changes—our existence confirms their success. But a growing number of scientists think that major climate shifts may have also forged some of the defining traits of humanity.

In particular, a few large evolutionary leaps, such as bigger brains and complex tool use, seem to coincide with significant climate change. "I think, to be fair, all we have at the moment is coincidence," said Peter B. deMenocal of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. But he and other researchers are exploring several lines of evidence, from ancient teeth to seafloor sediments, to see if a more concrete link can be supported.

The data is also helping scientists sift through the possible theories for just how climate might have triggered evolutionary advances. For instance, one idea is that big leaps forward were not driven by adaptation to a specific habitat change, but by a series of frequent changes. In other words, humans evolved to live with uncertainty. Rick Potts at the Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program calls this idea "variability selection", and it's possible at least two major evolutionary events can be linked to periods of climate instability…"
Full article here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Saw something like this in one of the PBS series o evolution some years ago.

Interesting point was when on of the fellow noted that that in the are they were studying that there was a repeating five hundred year cycle between desert and lake sediments. This apparently went on for thousands of years.

The show was pointing to this an impetus for evolutionary change. I found it also interesting as an example of drastic, cyclical climate change on a fairly short, if not abrupt, timescale.