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WILL CLIMATE CHANGE MAKE US SMARTER?
By Jamais Cascio
WorldChanging
August 20, 2005

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003338.html

It did before, at least according to a growing number of scientists
specializing in the evolution of the human brain.

When the hominid line split off from other apes about six million years ago,
bipedalism and other physiological changes happened pretty quickly -- from
the neck down. But it wasn't until about two-and-a-half million years ago
that hominid brains started to really grow, from Homo habilis' ~500-600cc
brains (chimps are a bit less than 400cc) to Homo sapiens' ~1400cc brains.
The trigger for this cerebral explosion appears to be a period in which the
global climate started going through a series of abrupt changes. Ice ages
and warming periods flip-flopped, making it difficult for species relying
upon particular environmental niches or conditions to survive. The species
that did best were the ones able to evolve ways of dealing with rapid
environmental changes; in the case of hominids, they got smarter.

We now face another round of climate disruptions, and this time it's
happening far faster than the natural processes of past eras. Other
environmental hazards abound, as well, threatening to make a bad situation
worse. Will all of this lead, once again, to a new phase in human
intelligence?

The BBC reports of recent findings confirming that the region in Africa home
to important steps in the evolution of humans went through dramatic shifts
in climate from 3 million years ago to 1 million years ago
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4164022.stm>. Massive lakes
formed and dried up at least three times in the period, indicating large
shifts in moisture and temperature happening in a geologically short period
(although far, far more gradually than the climate disruption underway
today).

Dr. William Calvin, neurophysiologist at the University of Washington, has
long argued that there's a connection between the evolution of intelligence
and climate shifts. Calvin's 2002 book, A Brain For All Seasons, spelled out
his argument in great -- and, to many, quite convincing -- detail. The book
is still in print, but Calvin has also made the contents available as HTML
here <http://williamcalvin.com/BrainForAllSeasons/>. (Be forewarned; Calvin
is apparently a great fan of Internet Explorer, and there are some weird
rendering artifacts in Firefox and Safari on some pages.)

Calvin's argument is interesting, in that the primary connection he draws
between climate changes and brain evolution is that the environmental
pressures led to a great need for cooperation between hominid individuals,
and that increased cooperation required better communication abilities.
Tools, fire, skinning animals for furs or to make skins to hold water -- all
very useful, but what really let us survive was our ability to tell each
other where to find food resources, how to make the tools and skins, plans
for cooperatively bringing down larger prey or fending off attacks from
predators, even ideas about what tomorrow might bring.

Would similar environmental pressures have the same result today?

Claims that humans are no longer subject to evolution aren't hard to find,
and the more rational versions make the claim that natural selection
pressures have largely been rendered moot through social cooperation and
helpful technology. This may be so, and while something leading to the
collapse of civilization may well lead to the resurgence of natural
selection, it's reasonable to argue that society and technology allow us to
expand "survival of the fittest" to a very large portion of the human
population.

But if you think about the claims from Calvin and others that environmental
pressure forced us to improve our communication skills and cooperative
tools, it's not as clear that we're no longer subject to evolution.

It's certain that the potential disasters such as global warming-triggered
climate disruption, oil depletion, and pandemics such as human-transmissible
H5N1 are making us rely more and more on effective tools of knowledge
acquisition and communication. Sites like the Avian Flu wiki, the Oil Drum,
and yes, even WorldChanging and myriad others we talk about here on a daily
basis are important parts of a structure for understanding and learning how
to deal with disruptive changes. Sensors, computers and networks allow us
better ways to recognize, analyze and tell others about changes to the world
around us. Simulations and modeling can aid in seeing future opportunities
and risks, and databases help to make sure that we don't forget them.
Moreover, all of these tools are developing and advancing at a rate far
exceeding biological evolution.

In short, we are improving our ability to communicate and cooperate, we're
just not doing it biologically.

I do think that climate change and the various other big challenges we will
face in the months and years to come will make us smarter, even if our
cranial size is unaffected. We will be forced to develop better ways of
understanding what's happening, looking for options, and cooperating on
solutions. The ability to communicate clearly and completely will again be a
species survival trait.

This is no reason to welcome global warming (or peak oil, or H5N1
pandemics...). It is, however, another reason for hope. Hominids, of which
humans are simply the latest version, have demonstrated a remarkable ability
to respond to environmental pressures, and each successive threat has left
us smarter, more cooperative, and better able to handle what comes next.
This time around, the dangers are potentially the worst the hominid line has
ever faced -- but we also have the greatest resources the hominid line has
ever possessed. This time, we may even be smart enough to head off disaster
before it hits.

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Published by David Sunfellow
NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE)
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