Human beings may have had a brush with extinction 70,000 years ago, an extensive genetic study suggests. The human population at that time was reduced to small isolated groups in Africa, apparently because of drought, according to an analysis released Thursday.
The report notes that a separate study by researchers at Stanford University estimated the number of early humans may have shrunk as low as 2,000 before numbers began to expand again in the early Stone Age.
here it comes…
Eastern Africa experienced a series of severe droughts between 135,000 and 90,000 years ago and the researchers said this climatological shift may have contributed to the population changes, dividing into small, isolated groups which developed independently.
Paleontologist Meave Leakey, a Genographic adviser, commented: “Who would have thought that as recently as 70,000 years ago, extremes of climate had reduced our population to such small numbers that we were on the very edge of extinction.”
Must have been all the coal-fired power plants!
Mammoth farts.
I can’t imagine how much coal it took to cook up Fred Flinstone’s drive-in movie rack of ribs!
Actually Lickmuffin, Ralph Klein once mused that global warming was nothing more than ‘dinosaur farts’.
Now much to the chagrin of the weenie AGW fans, turns out he was right all along! heh.
It was actually due to the SUVs. They didn’t have hybrids back then
OT but an interesting link:
http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/index.php
How long do you think it will take for someone to compare this to the Nazi salute?
I knew Fred Flintstone actually drove a Hummer . . . this just proves it.
Theoretical physics can prove anything.’…now theoretical science one ups it and drives the social agenda.
Ain’t science grand!
I blame Bush.
Actually, it was the result of a massive volcanic eruption in the Indonesia area that affected the climate. You can google it.
http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/stanley_ambrose.php
Geology rules!
If ever the planet needed a major cull it’s now. I am sure that there were far fewer ‘problems’ to solve on Earth when there were only a few thousand pesky humans.
Let the climate change come and let the chips fall where they may. Humanity has no guarantee of it’s right to continue producing more humans until we have nothing left eat but each other and no where to take a dump but on each other’s laps.
Even if it were possible to continue to distribute food the billions of mouths all over the globe, why do it? What exactly is the point of having enormous masses of humanity wandering around on semi deserts and jungles or dead cities for that matter merely here to continue getting enough to eat each day with not hope of real improvement. All the while being murdered by their hoslile neighbors for whatever reasons.
Here is the reality, THIS PLANET AIN’T BIG ENOUGH TO PROVIDE 6 OR 7 BILLION HUMANS WITH A MIDDLE CLASS LIFE STYLE. We are finding out right now that even a couple of billion is too many. We are already being taxed out of our cars and homes to save the planet. Well, some of us are. The Chinese and others are completely unaware that going green is the new way of life.
I know this sounds harsh and mean, but no one said reality was the easter bunny.
Lets see you square this with your fervent belief of ID & God. Stop using science only if it agrees with you.
You’re missing the point.
The planet is warming, the (capitol) Theory is that it’s caused by GHG’s, this (capitol) Theory has supporting evidence (which even I can’t ignore). It’s fine to debunk Anthropomorphic Global Warming, just point to the other (capitol) Theories that do so.
Pointing to isolated weather phenomenon makes you no better than the environmentalists that push useless things like Kyoto on us in the first place.
lrn2debatezor
On a more serious note
We all came out of Africa 50 to 70 000 years ago (as we already knew). Some of made a go of it in the intervening years. Some of us didn’t.
Now, mysteriously, those of us descended from those who made a go of it and set up thier descendents are inexplicably in debbt to the descendents of those who didn’t.
We didn’t stop them from joining our tribe or stopped them from copying what led to our success.
They simply decided that they didn’t want to be part of it.
Now we have to share our wealth with them.
Go figure!
of course, some of our ancestors refused to use perview even 70 000 years ago.
Perview is my fiend
First, lighten up. This isn’t a science blog, I’m bound by no rules when it comes to how I choose to mock the hysterics.
And the point being made by this post is that there is virtually no opportunity wasted by any branch of science (or survey) to link their report de jour to global warming.
My suspicion is that they recognize the utility of doing so, in that it helps push their topic higher in the news peckign order.
There’s a valid point to be made there Kate, and I commend you for it. Linking research to Global Warming increases chances of getting a grant.
btw, it’s ANZAC day today. The first time that Australians saved the western world from destruction
Lest we forget
and Holy Friday (orthodox) according to Dilbert’s calendar
Global warming’s ….
Got Nothin on the Ice Ages!
P and P:
More consistent with Biblical accounts, since the Easter weekend happened after the Passover meal, which was celebrated on Holy Thursday. That would be yesterday.
Obviously, they didn’t vote for Barock Obama or Hillary Clinstone to save them. And earlier today, John McCain reminisced on the subject: “yeah, those were tough times…”
loll. Their hopeless. How to figure out how humanity stayed in caves for 500,000 years. Yeah like their Women would like that. Its just chance we have a civilization.
Hey maybe , just maybe there was a flood that killed off most of humanity. Just as good an explanation my opinion.
Of course even though ALL humans unless singly with a genetic problem can breed. Gee isolated for how long? This is just another boost to the Race theory with I figure is bunk . Started in the 16nth century using the mark of Cain as justification for horrors visited on there fellow man by themselves.
Being of the savage human belief Darwin just incorporated this to fit the eras prejudices.
There is only one Race. The human race which hereditarily are the closest beings on Earth DNA wise. Their are no mules in humanity. Just cultures & ethnic groups formed by interbreeding in isolation for a short period, than joining another, plus diet & geography. If people have a default setting or template, I venture it’s the Mediterranean look. So many folks have intermingled around the sea basin, the dominate genetic traits will always arise. Dark hair, big nose, curly hair, dark olive skin.
Anyhow this is all just my opinion. There are no supermen of any social group nor can be.
John V:
Lets start the cull with your family than the other liberals relations as well. I am sure being culled from the Earth will cause nothing but joy for them & you. As well as your fellow co-religionists of the nature Diety.
Martyrdom for all you Earth worshipers. The Glory!!!
If ever the planet needed a major cull it’s now. I am sure that there were far fewer ‘problems’ to solve on Earth when there were only a few thousand pesky humans.
Hey John V,
Suicide is legal and green. If you feel a “cull” is in order, feel free to lead by example.
Um, so, the human race was nearly wiped out because of a catastrophic change in climate. Regardless of what caused it, it happened.
When it happens again, and it will regardless of our love of SUV’s and whatnot, I expect a similar result.
Eskimo: wrong. Ralph was referring to Alberta’s rich deposits of oil an natural gas as the result of “dinosaur farts.”
“Their are no mules in humanity.”
What about the abundance of jackasses?
btw, don’t be so hard on john V. unless of course he is actually “Lucy” (either anthropolcally or the HRC kind).
John V. is right in that we don’t have enough resources for the entire world to live a middle-class North American lifestyle, although saying “the world is in need of a cull” is a pretty inflammatory way of putting it.
Current freshwater resources per capita.
Projected population growth by area.
The areas lacking freshwater are already mining the stuff… using groundwater at a rate quicker than the hydrosphere can recharge.
I wonder if this is another head-in-the-sand issue for the SDA crew.
Samuel, there’s no shortage of water. There’s only a shortage of water in potable form. Think desalination.
I remember reading a few years ago that the european human population may have been reduced to a few dozen at one time.
limited gene pool.Arkansas, Albania , Alberta – explains a whole bunch.
A related comment on AGW here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/133652
“The Green Phantom
Global warming’s curious absence as a campaign issue.” by evan thomas
h/t RCP
So what are the population doomsdayers suggestions? Government control over family size?
Association with Troglodytes can be hazardous to your health.
Hugger
Warwick and Relevant Dream,
I trust your children will enjoy their future in mass of miserable humanity where they will be killing each other for bread and water.
If the population continues to grow as it is, that is what is in store for them. If the Liberals win the culture war, there will be no middle class at all. Do you really see your kids living in cardboard boxes begging or thieving to survive. That is what is happening on the streets in countless countries now where there are no resources and over-population.
I merely make an observation and state a fact of reality. If there is never a die off of humans, your grandchildren will piss on your graves.
Geez, 70,000 years ago with no automobiles, power grid, a carbon footprint of a few burned sticks at dinner, and a population that probably was under a million to begin with, will any of the GW lemmings notice the obvious? We were essentially missing from the global picture during that climate change. Duh.
Here’s how stupid journalists are, the very facts of the article are counter to the agenda that was inserted.
cgh
Samuel, there’s no shortage of water. There’s only a shortage of water in potable form. Think desalination.
Oh thanks captain obvious, I completely forgot about 98% of the water in the world! We’ll just toss up desalinization projects in the poorest parts of the world, and pump it all throughout Asia and Africa! I’m certain that they’ll be able to afford that. Never mind the cost of building/pumping/energy to run the thing/infrastructure at the destination. Never mind the fact that a lot of these areas already lack enough water in potable form, and we do next to nothing to correct this.
Don’t worry, cgh has it covered!
Whomever :
I merely make an observation and state a fact of reality. If there is never a die off of humans, your grandchildren will piss on your graves.
Another hater of humanity. His very tone & words proclaim it. How would you go about this purge of vermin known as humanity, gas, bombs or bullets? Your query implies direct action.
In case you havent heard buddy the human race is in decline population wise. Norway & other europian nationshave more deaths than births. All the malthusian computations where & are wrong . They are fslase based on disproved premisis . Ending in false predictions.
Japan will be a geriatric Country by 2020. By 2050 Mainland China will have 70% men because of the one child polocy & the not wanting of females whom women abort. Gee I wonder what they are going to do for brides?
In fact the only healthy populations now growing are Islamic. Could it be the wholke sale desertion of Christian Jewish values
by the west that has precipitated this decline. Who knew?
This what you want?
Texas Scientist Calls for Exterminating Over Four Billion People in a Plague?
Written by Ruvy
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/04/06/194545.php
Thanks for setting me straight Doug. Like the AGW crowd, I guess I’m a tad guilty of spreading half-truths too!
“Ninety-seven percent of all drownings worldwide occur in LMICs, and thus Africa, where the drowning mortality rate is 113.1 per 100,000 people (Peden and McGee 2003), has been identified as a region at risk for drownings.”
http://tinyurl.com/49e894
Revenant Dream
In case you havent heard buddy the human race is in decline population wise.
Huh?
World population
Protip: If Scandanavian populations shrink by .5% a year,and Africa and India’s populations explode, the world’s population isn’t in decline.
Also, just to head you off at the pass, a decline in the rate of increase doesn’t mean the world’s population is in decline.
The man who cast the tie-breaking vote in the senate to support the production of ethanol from food grains, doesn’t want to talk about the current food crisis right now, thank you very much.
I don’t know about devastating the human population through droughts in Africa but I have read of a massive human die off through global moistening.
YO,Sammy…cgh just said “think” desalinization” and you rag on him ,whats yer solution boyo,drag some o those icebergs down.If yer not part of the solution ,yer probly part of the problem.Oh and I would say ,move ,if ya denna hav no water.Thats my suggestion,rag on that too, boy
As I was reading this the fisrt thought was another nut bar fiddling with figures for sure. It will turn out to be that for sure as they really don’t have a handle on any of this as they change their out look every few months as new facts are found. He just forgot some items I suspect.
As I was reading this the fisrt thought was another nut bar fiddling with figures for sure. It will turn out to be that for sure as they really don’t have a handle on any of this as they change their out look every few months as new facts are found. He just forgot some items I suspect.
the only way to effictivly get rid of all the
humans is to declare them all pollutants
problem solved !
“Natural selection is the process by which favorable heritable traits become more common in successive generations of a population of reproducing organisms, and unfavorable heritable traits become less common.”Wikipedia.
Now what could cause one heritable trait to be more favorable than another? Of course a climate change resulting in a change in the environment would be something that helps one element of a population with favorable heritable traits survive when others don’t. The interesting question then becomes, what was the favorable heritable trait that our ancestors had that allowed us to survive that brush and thrive. If you look at the evolutionary record you will find many branches of our family tree that ended because that population did not have a favorable heritable trait to enable it to survive.
As our climate continues to change, what will be the favorable heritable trait that will allow us to survive and evolve as a species?
About the linking climate change to any scientific pronouncement, it is to be expected and all the more so and in a world of free speach. We just need to think about what is being said and see if there is a possibility of value in it.
“Oh thanks captain obvious, I completely forgot about 98% of the water in the world! We’ll just toss up desalinization projects in the poorest parts of the world, and pump it all throughout Asia and Africa!”
I have an idea! Why don’t we somehow warm the globe so that more water evaporates and gets desalinated naturally!
Hooray! Too bad we don’t actually know how to do that.
What gets me is the incredible bias/ignorance demonstrated by the author of this breathless piece. It has been common knowledge for 15 years, at least among those who are aware of Cavalli-Sforza and his disciplines’ pioneering work into the genetic history/ geographical dispersions of H Sapiens, that humans underwent a bottleneck about 70,000 years ago that reduced us to maybe 20000 odd souls and this frightenly low number prevailed for a couple of thousand years( BTW a viable population requires about 700 breeding individuals to maintain enough diversity to minimize cogenital disease). JT is right in that the Toba volcanoe in western Sumatra is the most probable cause of the climatic distruption. The ignorance lies in the fact that a science reporter was apparently unaware of this and the bias lies in quoting a Genographic advisor, Maeve Leakey ( I wonder if she is a member of that illustrious family?) in such a way as to sensationalize what must have been a hopeless and desperate time and that makes it seem that she was also ignorant of that sad event ( just 2800 generations ago).
Sincerely,
Robert Albin
Calgary
P.S. But then I am no expert
Whoever. John V. Who, pray tell, is going to make the sacrifice to reduce the population down to a level you’d prefer to see?
Which mouse are you going to nominate to bell this cat?
This I have got to see…
frostfoxen~ if the ‘progressives’ have their way, it will be Christians and White people out the door, First.