A global environmental crisis 42,000 years ago

Cooper, Alan; Turney, Chris S. M.; Palmer, Jonathan; Hogg, Alan G.; McGlone, Matt S.; Wilmshurst, Janet M.; Lorrey, Andrew; Heaton, Timothy J; Russell, James M.; McCracken, K. G.; Anet, Julien; Rozanov, Eugene; Friedel, Marina; Suter, Ivo; Peter, Thomas; Muscheler, Raimund; Adolphi, Florian; Dosseto, Anthony; Faith, J. Tyler; Fenwick, Pavla; Fogwill, Christopher J.; Hughen, Konrad A; Lipson, Mathew; Liu, Jiabo; Nowaczyk, Norbert R; Rainsley, Eleanor; Ramsey, Christopher Bronk; Sebastianelli, Paolo; Souilmi, Yassine; Stevenson, Janelle; Thomas, Zoë; Tobler, Raymond; Zech, Roland

doi:10.1126/science.abb8677

Cited by 78 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 164 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…22,23 ), and towards the end of the Last Glacial Maximum in the Magdalenian cultures as represented by the El Mirón specimen (19ka). The pattern of shared sweep signals are consistent with previously recognized genetic replacements between the IUP, Aurignacian, and Gravettian populations (Extended Data Table 4; Supplementary Information 2), which also occur close in time to two major geomagnetic events (the Laschamps and Mono Lake excursions, respectively) suggested to have caused rapid environmental shifts 24 . Individuals from late-glacial/Epigravettian cultures (e.g.…”

Section: Genetic Selection In Paleolithic Eurasiasupporting

confidence: 86%

Genetic and climatic factors in the dispersal of Anatomically Modern Humans Out of Africa

Tobler

Souilmi

Bean

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The evolutionarily recent dispersal of Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) out of Africa and across Eurasia provides an opportunity to study rapid genetic adaptation to multiple new environments. Genomic analyses of modern human populations have detected limited signals of strong selection such as hard sweeps, but genetic admixture between populations is capable of obscuring these patterns and is well known in recent human history, such as during the Bronze Age4. Here we show that ancient human genomic datasets contain multiple genetic signatures of strong selection including 57 hard sweeps, many with strong associations with cold adaptation. Similar genetic signatures of adaptation are also observed in adaptively-introgressed archaic hominin loci, as well as modern Arctic human groups. Consistent targets include the regulation of fat storage, skin physiology, cilia function and neural development; with multiple associations to modern western diseases. The spatiotemporal patterns of the hard sweeps allow reconstruction of early AMH population dispersals, and reveal a prolonged period of genetic adaptation (~80-50,000 years) following their initial out of Africa movement, before a rapid spread across Eurasia reaching as far as Australia.

show abstract

Section: Genetic Selection In Paleolithic Eurasiasupporting

confidence: 86%

Genetic and climatic factors in the dispersal of Anatomically Modern Humans Out of Africa

Tobler

Souilmi

Bean

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Besides, analysis performed in the summer season during the period 2001–2012 revealed that the largest number of dust storms in southeastern Iran occurred in June 2008, attributed to the influence of specific meteorological conditions as the abnormal enhanced cyclonic circulation over northern Arabian Sea ( Rashki et al, 2015 ). A further confirmation comes from the recent work by Cooper et al (2021) . In fact, both the COVID-19 pandemic and the new solar cycle 25 officially began in December 2019.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Airborne magnetic nanoparticles may contribute to COVID-19 outbreak: Relationships in Greece and Iran

Martínez-Boubeta

Simeonidis

2022

Environmental Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This work attempts to shed light on whether the COVID-19 pandemic rides on airborne pollution. In particular, a two-city study provides evidence that PM 2.5 contributes to the timing and severity of the epidemic, without adjustment for confounders. The publicly available data of deaths between March and October 2020, updated it on May 30, 2021, and the average seasonal concentrations of PM 2.5 pollution over the previous years in Thessaloniki, the second-largest city of Greece, were investigated. It was found that changes in coronavirus-related deaths follow changes in air pollution and that the correlation between the two data sets is maximized at the lag time of one month. Similar data from Tehran were gathered for comparison. The results of this study underscore that it is possible, if not likely, that pollution nanoparticles are related to COVID-19 fatalities (Granger causality, p < 0.05), contributing to the understanding of the environmental impact on pandemics.

show abstract

“…Geomagnetic excursions are relatively short (a few hundred to more than 10 thousand years) changes in the field intensity of low latitude (up to 45° from the previous position) or even full reverses, but with the GMF returning to its previous polarity (Panovska et al 2019). Although the mechanisms driving the excursions and their relation to the GMF reversals are not fully understood, their 'rapid' nature makes them potentially harmful to life (Cooper et al 2021).…”

Section: The Impact Of the Geomagnetic Reversalmentioning

confidence: 99%

How the Geomagnetic Field Influences Life on Earth – An Integrated Approach to Geomagnetobiology

Erdmann

Kmita

Kosicki

et al. 2021

Orig Life Evol Biosph

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Earth is one of the inner planets of the Solar System, but – unlike the others – it has an oxidising atmosphere, relatively stable temperature, and a constant geomagnetic field (GMF). The GMF does not only protect life on Earth against the solar wind and cosmic rays, but it also shields the atmosphere itself, thus creating relatively stable environmental conditions. What is more, the GMF could have influenced the origins of life: organisms from archaea to plants and animals may have been using the GMF as a source of spatial information since the very beginning. Although the GMF is constant, it does undergo various changes, some of which, e.g. a reversal of the poles, weaken the field significantly or even lead to its short-term disappearance. This may result in considerable climatic changes and an increased frequency of mutations caused by the solar wind and cosmic radiation. This review analyses data on the influence of the GMF on different aspects of life and it also presents current knowledge in the area. In conclusion, the GMF has a positive impact on living organisms, whereas a diminishing or disappearing GMF negatively affects living organisms. The influence of the GMF may also be an important factor determining both survival of terrestrial organisms outside Earth and the emergence of life on other planets.

show abstract

A global environmental crisis 42,000 years ago

Cited by 78 publications

References 164 publications

Genetic and climatic factors in the dispersal of Anatomically Modern Humans Out of Africa

Genetic and climatic factors in the dispersal of Anatomically Modern Humans Out of Africa

Airborne magnetic nanoparticles may contribute to COVID-19 outbreak: Relationships in Greece and Iran

How the Geomagnetic Field Influences Life on Earth – An Integrated Approach to Geomagnetobiology

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About