An Endangered Human Species

Scientists find evidence that, thanks to droughts, humanity was once on the brink of extinction

By Matt Ransford Posted 04.25.2008 at 1:09 pm 5 Comments

On the Brink of Extinction, Again? Severe droughts nearly wiped us out 70,000 years ago. Suburbanbloke

If we don't get our act together in time and we push this planet past its limits, to the point where things get disaster-movie bad, at the very least we can take solace in the fact that we've been there once before. According to new research out of Stanford University, the human species was on the brink of extinction 70,000 years ago due to an extended drought. It shrunk the human population to a number perhaps as low as 2,000.

The study used mitochondrial DNA to trace the divergence of the Khoi and San people in South Africa some 125,000 years ago. The researchers discovered the human population divided into small, isolated groups at the time of the split. The chronology of the DNA genetics corresponds to geological evidence of severe drought in the region during the same period. Once the severe weather patterns had passed, people slowly made their way out of Africa, reuniting during the early Stone Age.

Via PhysOrg

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5 Comments

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menar003

04/26/08 at 3:50 pm

Hm, let me guess.... 70,000 years ago those stupid humans were using too much electricity and driving their cars too much, and THATS why they had a drought.. right? right?

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commando

04/27/08 at 3:15 pm

I found that there was an eruption a long time ago that killed off the humans until only 10,000 or 1,000 were left. Toba Supervolcano.

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NotImpressed

04/28/08 at 8:06 am

And of Course, It Was George Bush's Fault !!!!

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KarstenHWeiss

04/29/08 at 10:25 am

Party on!

And in some thousand years someone will find evidence that our current consumption levels created a shortage in energy which resulted in mass starvations and social crisis on a global and unheard of level and PEOPLE WHO HAD THE POWER TO STOP IT KNEW IT COULD HAPPEN BUT PREFERRED TO IGNORE THE POSSIBILITY AND DID NOTHING.

Maybe we are lucky and only humans with the ability to reason and manage risk and a less selfish attitude make it through the next crisis.

Karsten
--
http://www.polluteless.com
Practical Advice to Pollute Less

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menar003

05/01/08 at 1:28 am

Thousand years? Your worried about a thousand years from now!? Judging by the immense progress that we have made in the past thousand years, I am 100% sure that we will have solved fusion power, or some other super duper power source that no one has thought of yet by then.

I bet the computers then will probably be close to being able to predict our climate without the ridiculous amount of errors the current models have.