February 21, 2007
WHERE WAS AL GORE WHEN THEY NEEDED HIM?:
Sudden cold snap linked to Neanderthals' demise (Ian Herbert, 22 February 2007, Independent)
They once inhabited a zone stretching from Asia to western Europe and eked out an existence until some 24,000 years ago. But in the end it was a familiar foe - climate change - that did for our evolutionary cousins the Neanderthals, new research suggests.Posted by Orrin Judd at February 21, 2007 8:03 PMThe ancient population found their last refuge in the Gibraltar area, where the diverse plant life, animals, sandy plains, woodlands, wetlands and coastline enabled them to maintain their lifestyle. But then came a sharp downturn in temperatures which, scientists say, may have dealt the Neanderthals a killer blow in southern Iberia.
That old familiar foe-climate change? Of course the climate changes. Always has. All they need do it look around. Oh, I'm forgetting the grant money.
Up in Prudhoe Bay back in 1983 we hit a layer of wood, as in trees, that went 400 feet deep down into the permafrost. About 4 miles away the road crew unearthed a Mastadon tusk in the gravel 74' below the surface.
I'd say the weather changed quite a lot.
Posted by: Tom Wall at February 22, 2007 12:30 AMIt can't be a conicidence that Al Gore and Neanderthal get mentioned in the same paragraph.
It's been quite a fall from Naomi Wolf, eh?
Posted by: ratbert at February 22, 2007 4:05 PM