Changing climates / evolving humans
Was it climate that pushed us into becoming the only global species? Today we live in every type of environment. But why would our ancestors swap a tropical beach for an icy tundra?
When did this happen - millions, or just thousands, of years ago? Tools must have played a part. So how did they develop?
Answering these questions will help us understand the importance of our evolutionary legacy. We will appreciate the pivotal role of the environment in making us who we are. We will value human diversity as the product of a very ancient, but common history.
Through the Natural Environment Research Council's research programme Environmental Factors in the Chronology of Human Evolution & Dispersal (EFCHED), scientists from many disciplines are investigating what made us human and when this happened.