Humans
How humans survived a global climate catastrophe 8200 years ago
Plummeting temperatures forced some human populations to adapt to the new conditions thousands of years ago, but the changes they made varied widely
By Christa Lesté-Lasserre
12 May 2025
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Some, but not all, ancient humans reacted to a cooling event by migratingHENNING DALHOFF/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Roughly 4000 years after the last glacial period, hunter-gatherers faced another bout of sudden climate change that forced them to rapidly adapt to a much colder world.
While not as frigid or long-lasting as the final stages of the last glacial period, which ended about 11,700 years ago, the 8.2 ka cooling event still caused temperatures to plummet by as much as 6°C (10.8°F) within decades. At the same time, a land mass the size of Scotland broke away from the Norwegian continental…
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