We are the size and shape we are ...
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| Can The Ascent Of Man Become The Descent Of Man? |
.... because of climate change.
At least according to researchers. They say that the climate over the last one million years has been the main driver of the changing size of human bodies.
Their research suggests that periods of colder, harsher conditions led to the evolution of larger bodies in the homo genus (of which homo sapiens are the last and surviving member), while the warmer milder periods of the last million years led to smaller bodies. They based this upon the study of more than 300 fossils, also suggested that these changes also influenced human brain size as the creation of open and stable areas allowed for the easier gathering of more calories / nutrients which promoted larger brain sizes.
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| Is The Descent Of Man About To Start? |
As the planet slowly tips into an ecological collapse, with human led global warming pushing the environment to the brink, this research suggests the possibility that any homo sapien survivors may become both physically smaller, and develop smaller brains as calorie intake levels drop in a world with unstable food supplies. After all, what goes up can come down.
But perhaps even more interesting is the possibility that the homo sapiens could split in to two sub species as HG Wells suggested with the Eloi and the Morlocks in his 1895 novel, The Time Machine:
- The first with the larger size and brains as the descendants of those in the developed world who had ensured their survival, at the expense of others during the collapse,
- While the second are the descendants of those in the under developed world who had survived only by dint of the vast numbers in their populations which allowed some to come through, but with their size reduced by lower calorific intakes in the post collapse world.
I guess its how each country plays its hand when world resources become much tighter after 2050. If the strong become selfish, then they will grab the resources with force and lock down, if they are altruistic, then we will share the pain .... I'm pretty sure that I can guess which way it will go.
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