Warmer Globe, Smaller Brain?
Researchers at the State University of New York at Albany have found that early humans developed larger brains as they adapted to colder climates. Most likely, it was the need to find ways to keep warm and manage fluctuating food supplies that drove the evolution of larger brains.
Gallup and Ash suggest that while our understanding of brain evolution remains incomplete, the study provides evidence of the role of climate and migration away from the equator as selective forces in promoting human intelligence, and that the recent trend toward global warming may be reversing a trend that led to brain expansion in humans.
The doors are open to so many remarks here that would get me in hot water. I think I'll just say perhaps my global warming-related headaches are caused by brain shrinkage.
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Comments (12)
Good one!!!
Ed
Posted by Ed | April 1, 2007 2:06 PM
Way too easy. I'll let someone else take the low-hanging fruit...
Posted by Bill | April 1, 2007 9:54 PM
Well if you take a look at what is going on in the
world today....it seems to make sense. LOL
Also goes a long way toward explaining why the Inuit
civilization surpassed that of the Egyptians;)
If this gets any kind of widespread play in the MSM,
these folks are going to be lucky to escape tar and
feathers.
Denny
Posted by Denny | April 2, 2007 5:05 AM
The story says:
Gallup and Ash suggest that while our understanding of brain evolution remains incomplete, the study provides evidence of the role of climate and migration away from the equator as selective forces in promoting human intelligence, and that the recent trend toward global warming may be reversing a trend that led to brain expansion in humans.
Or maybe it was our growing brain that led to migration?
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Which came first, rise in carbon dioxide or temperature?
This is such a pointless article that I can't believe you even posted it!
Posted by Nicole | April 2, 2007 9:36 AM
I guess that explains why my hats seem to be getting bigger.
Posted by Darren | April 2, 2007 10:00 AM
From what I've seen is that humans developed larger brains from increased protine in their diet. With that, the only correlation between a colder climate and larger brains that I can think of could be from a change from an agricultural society to a hunter gatherer society.
Posted by SM | April 2, 2007 1:39 PM
Explains a lot, especially why some people are so daft to believe the hype of this AGW stuff.
Posted by Rose | April 2, 2007 2:58 PM
The article sounds like good old fashioned racist Eugenics to me. If anything I'll agree with what SM said; we eat more animal protein(maybe PETA ought to do the same)....seriously, I don't see what the very recent & arguably temporary increase of about 1 degree in the mean global temp has anything to do with this suspect science. Where I'm sitting, the daytime temperature will stall about the freezing mark through Saturday(yes the DAYTIME temp), and it's supposed to be 50, so I don't think our brains are in jeopardy anytime soon if this science is accurate(most of us can see through this hysterical, emotionalistic AGW hack science regardless the latitude anyway)....
Posted by Anonymous | April 4, 2007 7:12 AM
I don't suppose any of you out there that felt compelled to leave a comment about the growing or shrinking of the human brain took the time to check the date! Perhaps a better indicator of brain size :-)
Posted by Karen | April 4, 2007 11:49 AM
Karen - despite the date, it's real research!
Posted by Laura Hannon | April 4, 2007 12:16 PM
Heat causes brain shrinkage?
Let's get government to ban furnaces!
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Global warming science is murky at best. It's studies like this that show how much bad science is out there.
If you want non-alarmist, true facts, check out www.globalwarmingheartland.org.
Or our blog at www.fromtheheartland.org
Liberals, conservatives, anybody who cares about these issues is more than welcome. We want more debate.
Posted by Dane Wendell | April 6, 2007 1:32 PM
Mind you that the Heartland Institute receives a substantial portion of their funding from companies like ExxonMobil - so they're not biased at all!
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=41
Liberals, conservatives, anyone who is gullible, stupid, or just plain doesn't care that the future of their children is being destroyed so a wealthy few can further line their pockets are more than welcome to go to globalwarmingheartland.org and read a load of unscientific rubbish.
Posted by Edward | June 28, 2007 12:26 PM