Climate Timeline Tool: Climate History Overview

NOAA Paleoclimatology Program, NCDC Paleoclimatology Branch

Overview
Climate History: Exploring Climate Events and Human Development

Does climate impact human activity and culture? Does human activity and culture impact climate? The answer according to most scientists is a qualified yes to both questions. Homo sapiens have for at least 100,000 years learned-- often the hard way-- how to adapt to changes in climate. Our actions, whether changing land cover through agriculture and deforestation or altering the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels, appears to affect climate processes, although exactly how and to what extent is a subject of considerable debate.

Using the "powers of ten" to frame particular time scales, Climate History looks at the past 100,000 years of human existence and explores specific climate events which may have challenged or changed human activities.

This chart provides an overview of human developments over the past 100,000 years.
Past 100,000 Years	100,000 B.P.	90,000 B.P.	80,000 B.P.	70,000 B.P.	60,000 B.P.	50,000 B.P.	40,000 B.P.	30,000 B.P.	20,000 B.P.	10,000 B.P.
End of Pleistocene	Early Homo sapiens diet includes fish and seafood	Recent discoveries in caves along the South African coast dating to 70,000 years before present suggest people using bone tools and living on fish and mammals in the region.				Large scale extinctions of mammals and birds in Australia	Cave paintings, stone and bone tools in much of Europe	Cro-Magnons thrive in cold European climate... but not for long.	Global temperature averages 14 degrees F cooler than today.	Estimated 5 million Homo sapiens on planet. Megafauna extinctions in North America
Past 10,000 Years	10,000 B.P.	9,000 BP	8,000 BP	7,000 BP	6,000 BP	5,000 BP	4,000 BP	3,000 BP	2,000 BP	1,000 BP
Developments in Agriculture & Technology	First evidence of plant domestication. Enhanced monsoons 10K to 6K: wetter N. Africa, drier central N. America.	Flax in Syria and Turkey used for clothing (linen) and oil.	Beans used in eastern Mediterranean	Zea mays, squash, beans and peppers used in Americas	Cotton grown in Pakistan, cultivated grapes in Afghanistan	Soybeans, rice, wheat, barley and millet used in China	Olives, peaches and apricots cultivated in eastern Mediterranean	Phoenicians sail in the Mediterranean, while Polynesians sail the Pacific.	Sailors discover how to use monsoon patterns to their advantage.	254-345 million Homo sapiens on the planet.
Past 1,000 Years	1000 AD	1100 AD	1200 AD	1300 AD	1400 AD	1500 AD	1600 AD	1700 AD	1800 AD	1900 AD
Human Exploration & Development	Leif Eriksson, lands on the North American continent.	Forests in Europe depleted to build cathedrals.	Major volcanic event in 1259 may impact global climate	Bubonic plague kills millions in Europe and around Mediterranean.	Sailors discover how to use the seasonal "trade winds".	Multi-decadal droughts impact American SW and beyond.	Atmospheric CO₂ levels 6% below average Holocene level.	"Little Ice Age" continues to chill much of Europe	Prolonged period of drought between 1849 and 1905 in Arizona.	1.6 billion Homo sapiens on the planet.
Past 100 Years	1900 AD	1910 AD	1920 AD	1930 AD	1940 AD	1950 AD	1960 AD	1970 AD	1980 AD	1990 AD
Major Climate Events & Human Impacts	Hurricane and flooding kill 8,000 in Galveston, Texas, Sept. 1900.	1917-1920- Influenza pandemic leaves 20 million dead worldwide.	Great Okeechobee Flood and Hurricane kills up to 3,500, 1928.	Dust Bowl drought impacts 100 million acres of Great Plains.	Chinese drought causes 3 million to perish due to starvation, 1941-42.	Great Smog of London kills 8000, Dec. 1952. Typhoon Vera kills nearly 5,000, 1.5M homeless, Japan, 1958.	Hurricane Camille slams into Mississippi with 25 foot storm surge.	Flooding in Vietnam kills 100,000 in 1971. Blizzard in Iran leaves 4000 dead, 1972.	1982-1983 El Niño impacts fishing and economies throughout Pacific Basin.	Hurricane Andrew causes $25B in damages in 1992, Mississippi flood damaged $18Billion.
Past 10 Years	1991 AD	1992 AD	1993 AD	1994 AD	1995 AD	1996 AD	1997 AD	1998 AD	1999 AD	2000 AD
The 1990s	Bangladesh Cyclone kills over 138,000. "Perfect Storm" develops off Nova Scotia.	August- Hurricane Andrew hits Florida, killing 54, costing $25 billion.	"Storm of the Century" hits U.S. east coast with 270 missing. Midwest flooding causes $18 billion damage.	Severe ice storm in southeast US causes an estimated $3 billion in damages.	Atlantic Hurricane Season second busiest hurricane season since 1871. 830 die in Midwest heatwave.	Hurricanes Bertha and Fran hit North Carolina resulting in major flooding.	Impact of 1997-1998 ENSO warm event estimated at $25 to $-33 billion	Hurricane Mitch devastates Central America, killing estimated 11,000.	La Niña linked to drought conditions in much of U.S. and high precipitation in Pacific Northwest.	Wildfires in the Western U.S. burn over 6 million acres. Over 6 billion Homo sapiens on planet.
Past 1 Year	Winter Sostice		Spring Equinox		Summer Solstice			Autumn Equinox		Winter Solstice
Past 24 Hours	Sunrise		Noon		Sunset			Midnight		Sunrise


http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/ctl/cliihis.html Downloaded Tuesday, 16-Sep-2008 08:36:51 EDT Last Updated Friday, 07-Oct-2005 12:25:59 EDT by paleo@noaa.gov Please see the Paleoclimatology Contact Page or the NCDC Contact Page if you have questions or comments.