|
TEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO.
Unlike most areas of the Arctic, northern Yakutia was not glaciated in the Ice
Age: the Arctic Ocean was permanently frozen and therefore
provided no moisture for precipitation and ice build-up. Yakutia warms rapidly during the summer months; those who learned to survive
the winters could expect warm and fruitful summers.
After the Ice Age, Yakutia warmed quickly; fossil pollen reveal that
temperatures peaked about nine thousand years ago. Over the past few
years, scientists have discovered that global warming began sooner
and peaked in northern Yakutia some three or four thousand years before
other parts of the arctic. As a result, the area was inhabited much
sooner than surrounding arctic regions. |
|
  
|
