How Climate Made History Pt. 1 | Full documentary

freezing cold oppressive heat devastating drought extreme climate change may have contributed to the extinction of the Neanderthals and allowed modern Homo sapiens to dominate the earth [Music] all life on Earth is subject to the power of climate civilizations evolved or vanish forever favorable climatic conditions support the rise of great empires and promote trade prosperity and artistic achievement adverse climatic events often lead to war and other human catastrophe [Music] almost 14 billion years ago immense forces created the universe the Big Bang spawned vast galaxies each with millions and billions of stars moons and planets [Music] Emami is one small blue planet our earth water warm and the Earth's protective atmosphere create something that may be unique in the universe a climate that makes life possible as the oceans formed and the continents drifted apart the earth developed seasons temperature differences between land and water produced winds and land bridges shaped the ocean currents but climate has always been prone to sudden change often with dramatic consequences for life on earth 65 million years ago the dinosaurs were the unchallenged masters of the prehistoric world until their sudden demise a medial strike triggered volcanic eruptions and earthquakes the ensuing climatic chain reaction wiped out the giant reptile [Music] after the age of the dinosaurs the earth cooled climate change also affected our ancestors early hominids had to survive periods of both extreme heat and extreme cold most were unable to adapt and died out then over thousands of years the polar ice caps expanded as did the Earth's alpine glaciers around 60,000 BC average temperatures were about five degrees colder than they are today this had a huge impact Arctic sea ice extended all the way to Europe so much water was frozen but sea levels became up to 100 meters lower the icy temperatures also affected the land the ground was not only frozen solid but also extremely dry where the ice ended there were stretches of tundra and tiger if you look at Western Europe as a place to live you find that there are two challenges one you find that you have very cold conditions particularly in winter but during the summer because the ice is so far south you have this wonderful sort of like high energy environment so it doesn't stay stable for very long period and you have this sort of oscillating extremes going through the Ice Age which then stress any creatures are living there at that time but one hominid genus was resistant to these stresses the Neanderthals were suited to these extreme conditions they not only survived the climatic variation but developed an impressive range of skills [Music] Neanderthals were adept at hunting large animals and knew how to light fires they were the first hominids to develop successful strategies for coping with climatic variations $10 for name is more god muscle team I bombed that doesn't doesn't get under limbs getting wounded and limber he an anomaly you only hide alert it is pilar Kaiser's in the neanderthals caves fires kept temperatures constant they made warm clothes from animal skins the key thing for surviving cold climates is to avoid frostbite so the key things that you want to actually protect in cold climates across your fingers your toes your nose and of course genitalia if you happen to be a male Neanderthals was short and stocky their body surface area was quite small relative to their body mass but they had lots of muscle which generates heat they had the perfect Anatomy for surviving in an ice age [Music] the Neanderthals main problem was their diet they needed to consume large quantities of meat to sustain their muscle mass so they preferred to hunt large animals in summer when the ice receded for a few weeks they hunted mammoths and other big game hunting was physically demanding and dangerous but Neanderthals needed animal protein and vitamins to survive the long winter they often tracked their prey over long distances you look at a Neanderthal they are tough they are cold adapted and you would expect them to survive and thrive in the ice ages and they did thrive while the climate was stable but then quite suddenly it changed the climate has always been subject to large but predictable fluctuations most of these are caused by the Sun the center of our solar system as the Earth revolves the sun's rays strike its surface at some times before but is more circular at others more elliptical one orbital cycle takes 100,000 years the angle of the Earth's axis also moves in a 40,000 year cycle these changes caused regular climatic variations on earth as the intensity of solar radiation increases and decreases other influences on the Earth's climate such as fluctuations in sea currents are irregular the Gulf Stream for example works like a giant heat pump moving warm water toward Europe reversal was motika atavistic satima elemental so you go home Tom the unanimity mother steam Vedas online dialogue and then Maxim I'll go schema on fry guard when ago SCORM answering would a Harvard the Sydenham not Atlantic in the wrong on ask our next act God sent a few mere climatologists are investigating how changes in the Gulf Stream affected the Neanderthals the answers lie hidden in Germany's Eiffel mountains deep in the lakes that are formed in ma the craters of extinct volcanoes these scientists are doing pioneering work they use sophisticated technology to reconstruct the Earth's prehistoric climate from its own natural records using a special drill they're taking core samples from the sediment of Mar Lakes in the Eiffel masks region for thousands of years pollen has settled in these oxygen-poor waters and being perfectly preserved the scientists the lakes provide a unique climatic record the core samples are fragile they have to be frozen with liquid nitrogen so they don't disintegrate on their way to the surface every sample that's brought up intact opened the door to the past the pollen layers allow the scientists to draw conclusions about climatic conditions thousands of years ago the earth never forgets and the climate leaves a unique footprint of the little one is now the research team from the University of Mainz can start reading the climate Chronicle the London didn't can not in the in their martyrs the severe kinda dollars of born bizarre here harm under singita Anthony Garcia hiding blood vino I'm tagging the 5006 an elysian when she crushes the schema of evil in geography comes to you the old of the period they want to investigate but deeper the scientists need to drill one millimeter of the sample equals one year a meter long sample takes them back in time 1000 years at a depth of 40 meters the researchers reach the era of the Neanderthals the Eiffel mouths are an ideal location for this research because the Neanderthals lived in this region the Neander Valley where the first Neanderthal skeleton was found is just 150 kilometers away the core samples reveal what conditions were like for the Neanderthals when the gulfstream became erratic [Music] the dark layers of earth indicate periods with mild climates and extensive forests cover lighter layers indicate periods when barren steps covered the area and summers with four degrees colder than today about sixty thousand years ago the climate change suddenly with dramatic consequences for the Neanderthals the Resendez against Miller in the weong and in chemo begin Mahad Devan thousand accountants thousand Exxon guns are booked up until same yarn - clintus here there were ten cold and hot phases in quick succession the landscape and the vegetation changed rapidly humans and nature were under constant stress this climate chaos pushed the Neanderthals to their limits and threatened their very existence they are not allowed to do that side de nanã Vale's verga tattooin Ghalib open same yarn the senator Hoffman slipper went on versus animal advisor give want us to yardage madam Honda has insufficient and kima Dec 17 yarn extrema hospitalization of the Medina V act posit first the Neanderthal spray disappeared many animals were unable to find enough food and starved others migrated away suddenly the Neanderthals were hunters with no prey at the same time a competitor moved into their territory Homo sapiens evolved in the warm climate of East Africa and slowly migrated all the way to Europe [Music] the newcomers seemed completely unsuited to this harsh and changeable climate [Music] Homo sapiens was tall and slender with long arms and legs this build made them extremely susceptible to cold but they overcame this disadvantage thanks to a new skill it's been argued that Homo sapiens had a very different shoulder so they could actually throw Spears whereas if we look at the shoulders of Neanderthals they're so big and chunky but actually that ability to throw probably wasn't there and actually they were much more likely to be frosting spears throwing spears allowed Homo sapiens to kill much faster animals from a distance the revolutionary invention made hunting for meat much easier [Music] the Neanderthals who'd been the Masters of Europe lost their fight for survival they weren't adaptable enough to save their species the last of them died on the Rock of Gibraltar about 24,000 years ago [Music] the clear winner in this time of climate change was homo sapiens we still share about 99% of our genetic material with these ancient humans [Music] after migrating to Europe from Africa Homo Sapien spread to India and Asia then by land bridges to Australia and America during this mass migration they settled in some of the most remote corners of the earth a key to that was the adaptability the ability to understand the environment how it's changing and to work with large social groups to be able to actually deal with that changing landscape and for me this is the point where humans first started to adapt to the climate and use the climate for their own good during a time of unprecedented climate chaos humans developed a unique ability surviving in changing climates this allowed them to withstand the last millennia of the Ice Age a time of extreme cold [Music] the ice age gradually came to an end around 17,000 BC due to changes in the Earth's orbit as the earth moves closer to the Sun life changed dramatically the [Music] sunlight grew stronger particularly in summer the icy planet was about to experience a global spring it took several thousand years for the thumb to warm the entire globe as the Earth's climate became much milder a new era began and has continued until the present day [Music] warmer temperatures led to changes in the environment first the ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctic began to melt the oceans also began to warm and the Gulf Stream began to flow again as temperatures roll more and more moisture evaporated into the atmosphere this led to regular rainfall which triggered a burst of plant growth there was increased biodiversity mixed forests spread across Europe and North America and subtropical forests flourished closer to the equator new animals things he started to populate the fertile plain as concern about blue in their biosphere which the vast happening to deteriorate names who they mention as FF I shall convert as amended I start super film for ending offers plans leisure now Smith lighted sources are inspired ec9 along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and in the eastern Mediterranean abundant natural resources created ideal living conditions at the ancient site of Gobekli Tepe our 60 stone skill engraved with the images of animals including foxes wild boar and water birds [Music] nomadic people's may have worshipped these figures because wild animals supplied them with meat and skins awesome roger goodell traffic Anisa I shall convert this fish taco and finally from typically cheaper more bookish and I shall to architect or Xue Shan difficult art as sent home from home here at CNN not hamdulillah Kauravas over sphere and in how somebody home design and recognition marriage could be also of great benefit to humans and animals were the wild grains growing in the warm sunshine of the Fertile Crescent I'm corn spelt and Emma grew all across the Middle East they're among the oldest grain varieties on earth easily stored these grains could be eaten all year round and so provided humans with a reliable food source as the seasons became more regular humans began to cultivate these wild cereals they observed the cycles of nature and by experimenting soon learned the best times to sow crops agriculture revolutionized prehistoric societies many abandoned in our Matic lives and became farmers and cattle breeders [Music] for the first time humans began to settle down and build villages they no longer needed to travel to find food [Music] prior to agriculture people were hunter-gatherers and moving around and everybody from the very eldest to the very youngest we're all concentrating on collecting and hunting for food because that was essential as soon as you have the Agricultural Revolution and agriculture starts suddenly not everyone is involved in food production and allowing people to have the freedom to actually do other things allow society to build once that's settled in villages people began to specialize and develop their skills they invented techniques that allows them to make new valuable objects for their communities you have specialists who are then farmers we have specialists who are then looking after cattle and goats and other domesticated animals and then other people can then develop specializations so for example if you're settled in one place then you will want people who are specialized in building so you can actually then have a houses built or you can have buildings built and so you then start to free up people from the manual labels just producing food pottery metalwork and weaving changed people's lives so did more humble inventions like bread and beer further the centuries villages grew into towns one of the oldest is Jericho on the banks of the River Jordan other cities in the area were chattel who uke para do and earth this cradle of civilization benefited from a long period of favorable climatic conditions dosage is orders to begin from born born physical and client promise and global aquinas quantum angels Batista from Desmond convening a gift / the house Python this an atomic model an invention the advection from Stefan only and villains our industry gesellschaft Dasom focus the guns course of embrasure india's global dimension for endicott on Wabash no additional logos record language - horns and he can't understand ads for here around the same time a disaster was looming in North America part of a continental ice sheets melted and created a vast Lake it continued to grow until it covered an area of four hundred and forty thousand square kilometers far bigger than any Lake existing today the intense sunlight caused the lake to grow as more and more melt water flowed into it from the mountains at first ice barriers held back this huge volume of water but around 6200 bc they too began to melt and disaster would inevitable the barriers around Lake Agassiz collapsed a huge amount of icy water was released it flooded large parts of North America and eventually drained into the Atlantic the immense inflow of cold water upset the currents in the Atlantic it disrupted the Gulfstream which ceased to have a warming effect temperatures dropped all across Europe in the Fertile Crescent where agriculture had so recently allowed humans to make enormous progress the weather suddenly became cold and dry this led to devastating droughts and crops failed the new agrarian societies lost their livelihood talking phones and katana the boy Alicia gesellschaft alpha well destroy tarnish James Woodham home for dogs no stylist and garnish my Mahan or Alicia geezer from Falcon no change Nagisa Zegna height stars and so dusty desert often in wonder game Reagan inter here now the first ever climate refugees came from the eastern Mediterranean many thousands left in search of a New Eden [Music] some ventured as far as Europe where temperatures were still relatively mild and fertile soil promised ideal conditions for settlement [Music] others stayed in the Middle East but move further south everywhere they went these migrants introduced agriculture they preferred to settle along ribbons or on the coast anywhere they had a reliable supply of fresh water and food but even in moderate climate zones the settlers were not safe [Music] the dangers caused by the North American milk order were far from over sea levels rose 120 meters all over the world humans found their very existence threatened gradually the theory claimed vast tracts of fertile land and rising sea levels flooded settlements in river deltas and a long code the Bible tells of these events in one of its best-known stories God told Noah to gather all the world's animals on his ark two of each kind and take them to safety the rest of humanity was to be punished in a devastating deluge now I did God's bidding if you look into almost all human societies there are stories about the Great Flood and the reason for this is because key period of time between 10,000 and 5,000 years ago after the last ice age sea levels continue to rise and that's not all those societies that are affected by that sea level rise has really empennage tap on our psyche and has embedded itself in our stories about the end of the world the Bible is not the only book that tells of a great flood and an arc the mountainous waves and the deluge that destroyed everything in its path are all so vividly described in the epic of gilgamesh from ancient Mesopotamia and the Koran [Music] tribal peoples in South America also tell of a vast flood that covered the entire earth it is said that people only survived by fleeing to the mountaintops indigenous Australian also refer to a great flood the dramatic rise in sea levels thousands of years ago has become part of our collective memory all around the world where people were sea level rose and rose and Rose until about five thousand years we know that there are lots of areas that are completely flooded now that had society so you can see cities underneath the sea close to water and in Japan we know that off the coast of the United Kingdom in the North Sea is doggerland and when you actually surveyed Auckland it has the imprint of villages or Neolithic tribes that used to live there that were flooded out [Music] the rising sea-levels changed the map of the world in North America Hudson Bay and the Great Lakes came into being in Northern Europe the Baltic Sea was formed Japan Indonesia and Australia became Islands the great glacial melt did not always bring devastation one place that benefited was the Sahara [Music] today it's a hot arid and inhospitable region but the Sahara may once have been very different [Music] at an ancient site on the guild Kabir Plateau in Egypt archaeologists have uncovered surprising things from prehistoric times they found stenciled handprints which were probably made by nomads or traders an adjacent cave has rock paintings of humans standing alone and in groups all this art was produced during the time of the Great Flood while much of the world suffered the Sahara appears to have been teeming with life many people lived here and animal life was abundant there were antelopes and lions and even giraffe what is now the world's largest sandy desert was once a fertile savanna it was home to herds of animals that roamed rich pastures fed by a vast network of rivers and lakes [Music] to change in this region climate was influenced by another factor Monson wind the northern hemisphere was receiving more heat from the Sun because of a change in the tilt of the Earth's axis [Music] landmasses store more heat than oceans creating temperature differences that produce monsoon winds which carry cool moist air inland these winds brought rain and abundant life to what is now desert if we look at the Sahara we find that there is a huge period of time between about 12,000 years ago and five and a half thousand years ago where the Sahara was Green and by that we mean that people were able to live there and so we find archaeological finds all the way through the Sahara showing the people thrive there there was clearly enough food agriculture was actually developing there and then slowly for about seven thousand years onwards the Sahara started to expand but this flowering of the Sahara and the abundance of water wildlife and food plants was fated not to last the fertile savanna land became a sandy desert harsh barren and largely uninhabited the subtropical monsoon winds lasted only a relatively short time until the Earth's axis shifted again as the sun's heat decreased the monsoons lost their power [Music] when plants die from drought less moisture is retained in the soil this accelerates the degradation of the land and deserts form surprisingly quickly the most recent winner on risings x1 or a dry monitor under host Cosford Orton's leg on ventilation originally is not on the ministry initiated of an American is apnea then at the antenna steppin lunch after nine recent lunch after means performed we know when the Sahara became a desert thanks to this ancient burial site in Niger on what was once the shores of Lake gerbera for many generations the dead were buried here along with objects such as bone fish hooks and jewelry made from hippopotamus tusks [Music] but the burials seem to have ended quite abruptly in around 3,500 BC when the lake dried up the inhabitants abandoned the burial site and all trace of them disappears when the rain stopped they had to leave drought had completely transformed the landscape and this didn't just happen in the Sahara all over the world deserts began to form the Taklamakan in Central Asia Australia's red centre phenom needs and the Kalahari deserts in southern Africa [Music] this was the last major shift toward the Earth's current climatic patterns that small change in the tilt of the globe caused the rains to stop in many subtropical regions [Music] once again climatic change forced thousands to migrate there was an exodus from the Sahara towards the Fertile region in northern Africa while inland rivers had dried up the Nile in Lower Egypt was still a reliable source of water on its banks the migrants found fertile soils the Nile Valley is Egypt green heart a verdant floodplain over 1,100 kilometers in length the Great River provides ample water to irrigate the valley which is surrounded by desert [Music] every summer heavy rains in the ethiopian highlands cause the river to break its banks in September and October the floodwaters recede the soil dries out and the fields can be killed while they follow a regular yearly cycle the Nile floods can be extreme the early settlers had to adapt to these conditions the climate refugees became skillful farmers and hydraulic engineers the ancient Egyptians knew how to use every drop of the precious monsoon rains for their fields water flowed through a system of canals to direct the water to where it was needed they used locks and counterweighted buckets this sophisticated irrigation system helped create an economic boom the Nile made the region prosperous and fed increasing numbers of people Egypt's first city sprang up along the banks of the Nile in the FASTA åland with near Silla mentioning distinct to a mr. Martin along the sleeves so enough Kozma organized a sueance form simple settlements soon evolved into Egypt's first kingdom but the social and political system continued to evolve around safeguarding and managing the water supply [Music] this was done with the help of an ingenious invention the nylon eater a stepped structure used to measure the level of the Nile floodwaters the measurements were used to predict the effect of the flood each year the Egyptian calendar was also based on this annual flooding park it was the season of inundation pair it was the season of emergence and Shamu was the harvest season when had client the Occupational reseller didn't in the million untouched women not sparse Omar conditions patron so London and fun in super Fijian das Vatican Plaza and house difference here to attract sisal answered shaft when Steve Evandro in gang with him clima but in zoo sound of the cold lager was entertained education water to us this most famous of ancient civilization was the product of favorable climatic conditions in the nile valley the pharaohs were able to build and maintain the Egyptian Empire over almost 3,000 years because the Nile provided all the necessary resources [Music] the fundamental resource you need to build an empire is food and water if you actually want artisans to build temples you want soldiers to go off and fight wars for you you have to be able to feed them and to water them if you can ensure and protect your food supply and your water supply for all of your people then you can start to build a large civilization with key resources secure the pharaohs oversaw a long period of stability these powerful leaders were able to bring prosperity to their people the hawk would burn interesting gap whereas crema is perhaps through last order would have steam our dimension that sue typed who would want to awaken it wasn't just Egypt that flourished other civilizations are runs between the latitudes of 20 and 40 degrees north in Mesopotamia and Persia in northern India in Karakoram in China in Mexico and Peru and in the Mediterranean the Mycenaeans Minoan Thracians and Etruscan all these cultures had similar climates the kingdom of Kutner in modern-day Syria also blossomed during period and established itself as one of the ancient world's most important economic centres it controls the major trade routes connecting North Africa and the Middle East [Music] Bronze Age cultures have something else in common again it was related to the climate Sun worship Egyptians venerated the Sun God in southern England the stone circles of Stonehenge marked the summer and winter solstices and may have been associated with Sun worship this structure in the German town of Gothic is a solar observatory [Music] the sky disk found in nearby is thought to be an astronomical instrument [Music] many Bronze Age societies revered the Sun as the giver of life 2,000 years later all this changed as the entire Mediterranean region entered a period that is sometimes called the dark ages of antiquity from about 1200 BC his allies Asians collapsed one after the other sources refer to seafaring vessels who launched raids around the Aegean little is known about them only that they always attacked on the sea [Music] they ransacked town from pity leaving a trail of destruction wherever they went from Greece to Gaza no one was safe their raids marked the end of the mediterranean civilizations of the Bronze Age [Music] researchers are still investigating the reasons behind the collapse of these kingdoms they suspect that climate change may have played a role but one of the reasons that these are called the dark ages is that there are so few written records dating from this time [Music] paleoclimatologist Dominic flight Minh hopes to shed light on this period using geological data from the coaching cave in southern Turkey people have been visiting the case for thousands of years because it provides not only shelter but also water large pools were built in ancient times to collect the rainwater that seeps into the cave deeper inside the cave this water has created a fascinating climate record which flight nun is researching the cave contains huge rock formations including stalagmites up to 20 meters tall most are millions of years old a walk in this cavern is also a journey through the area's climatic history it is atop doneita sister faustina today when the idea in commercial moneda sharks and indigenous teen leader stocks may avoid any - calm sending instruction huge budget on VMs mr. Huntoon the mood anthem Dubois and an illegitimate Odin jjigae hi mr. on the signal to an ass-whooping the problem is that he needs to find just the right sample from among all these stalagmites many of these ancient formations stopped growing at the end of the Bronze Age when water stopped entering the cave [Music] stalactites and stalagmites meet a constant supply of water if they are to grow they're formed by rainwater seeping through soil and dripping off rocks the water leaves behind deposits of calcium carbonate which accumulate over time these fragile structures allow researchers to analyze rainfall patterns over millennia the samples from coaching in cave indicate that the climate changed abruptly during the Bronze Age the fund is non-toxic and Venus under the tiles isolation of isocodes cities I wanna stop Angeles and wanna stop lagging on the only sand emitted osterlich meeting longer feared upon subside cinch patient ended up on food sites and relations and ended soon AMA installed blog on this increase in dust layers shows that during the Late Bronze Age the climate became drier this is confirmed by the rate of which the stalagmites crew which slowed noticeably during the period in contrast to preceding centuries almost no new layers of limestone were added this suggests a decrease in rainfall around the Mediterranean from about 1200 BC the whole region was in the grip of drought I'll did parameter D with the mess in harm's Ireland's token once coat I liked it's perfect a recipe for disaster a recipe for disaster indeed as recurring drought affected the entire Mediterranean region soon soils were depleted fields could no longer be tilled the mysterious seafarers who raided kingdom after Kingdom were actually climate refugees huge numbers of migrants over an Egypt word had spread that it was rich in resources and that the pharaohs granaries were well stopped ramasees the third eventually won a resounding victory over the Raiders but their invasion of Egypt was the beginning of a prolonged gradual decline so the old kingdom ruled for hundreds and hundreds of years and then a cold snap produced drought across the Middle East keep on with drought is it means that your food supply stops if you don't have enough food you can't feed people those people then either migrate to other places where there is food or they actually start trying to produce food themselves so what you have is every layer of government starts to collapse because you can't feed people that are trying to run the country and you see that the old kingdom collapses Egypt shows us the power of climate so kingdoms fell because of the climate anomaly rainfall dropped substantially and temperatures were the lowest Fred Beans since the end of the Ice Age it wasn't until about 300 BC but the Earth's alignment again made the climate more favorable with milder temperatures and regular rainfall in the mountains places receded the balance of nature was restored in the Mediterranean and beyond the changes brought an end to the climate crisis and much-needed relief to ecosystems all over the world including Africa [Music] abundant rainfall replenished groundwater levels soils became fertile again and crops thrived in northern Africa em'ly the most sought-after export at the time grew as far as the eye could see medicine doctor named Zama Munna any guitar even wouldn't hurt in uni Julie August the mono - sorry marina finalized and emerge from the Cisco try the next this abundance attracted the attention of an emerging power which obtained access to Africa's granaries by force [Music] if subjugated is archenemy Carthage in the Punic Wars and secured its food supply for centuries to come [Music] the rising imperial power was run during its golden age more than 800,000 people lived in its bustling capital on the river Tiber [Music] famous for both his efficient administration and its extravagant lifestyle the Roman Empire auction all that had come before survive dr. Hook's an event in momentum d-day goons Jenna - affirmative Winston at worst we're a screamer though is that is often a to health leading candidate is a single candidate Lansing sinigang decently mothers a Tunisian and zofran is men tried to see Stefan begin and clima register when out there beginning from Couture and commune of angst admitting FEMA focus at home Rome kept its people content with bread and circuses abroad it expanded its empire the climate favored Rome [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: hazards and catastrophes

Views: 78,428

Rating: 4.6607389 out of 5

Keywords: weather, weather history, weather event, weather climate, weather change, weather seasons, weather documentary, weather earth, weather climate change, weather events, weather effects, weather man, weather effects on mankind, weather science, weather ice age, weather deserts, weather homo sapiens, weather neanderthals, weather national geographic, weather evolution, weather summer, weather winter, weather spring, weather fall, weather corona, weather coronavirus

Id: 4IL-TeV-cqY

Length: 51min 23sec (3083 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 08 2017