Читать книгу Introducing Anthropology - Laura Pountney - Страница 24

Earlier hominins evolved and diversified in Africa, and the fact that they migrated into Asia and Europe (Homo erectus nearly 2 million years old have been found in Asia) shows that they managed to adapt successfully to diverse climatic conditions. One particularly important characteristic of humans is our ability to acclimatize to changes in the environment. The climate became more changeable around 6 million years ago. Some anthropologists argue that certain adaptations, such as upright walking or tool-making, coincided with periods of environmental change.

One example of this view is the Savannah hypothesis, which claims that many important human adaptations arose in Africa as the savannah, an area of grassland between the rainforest and the desert, expanded. According to this idea, upright walking proved to be an energy-efficient and beneficial way of moving across an open landscape. Furthermore, walking upright had the additional advantage of freeing the hands.

Overall, evidence suggests that early hominins were able to adjust to changing environments in different parts of the world, giving them a huge advantage over other species. This adaptation included the ability to use resources from a vast variety of plants and animals and to employ many specialized tools. Human beings are social and also use communication skills to exchange resources and information to help them survive in a constantly changing world.

In recent years, however, humans have become the dominant force in shaping the Earth’s climate and processes. The Anthropocene is a term that has been adopted by a range of disciplines to describe the time period in which human beings have had an overwhelming impact on planet Earth. It is these changes, which we have ourselves created, that are now presenting some of the biggest challenges to our survival.

Anthropocene A new planetary era in which humans have become the dominant force in shaping the earth’s physical make-up and processes