It is very likely to think that an meteor colliding with earth may wash out the complete planet. However, what will happen if the size is somewhere between twenty-five square feet, well, the effect will be like a bomb blast. In either of the case, the result will be a disaster. We believe that comet or meteor impact always results in catastrophe but researchers from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, US believes in possibility that meteor impact could be a reason of initiating civilization.
As per the earlier versions of Big Freeze that happened somewhere around 13,000 years ago. The northern hemisphere was covered with ice, which was the result of ice dam rupture. Water then was released into the Atlantic Ocean, which further shut down the warm ocean current moving towards the land. And hence, the colder conditions prevailed.
New research lead by geochemists at Dartmouth College in Hanover has completely rebutted the previous study. As per them, there happened a cataclysmic meteor impact in Quebec around the same time. The impact:
- Emitted poisonous gas on the earth’s atmosphere
- Earth’s temperature plunged relatively
- Plants and animals found difficult to survive and hence died
- Overall, the landscape was complete changed
Earth’s climatic conditions changed drastically, it went towards colder and drier level. Animals could not take the new environment and started perishing away. This led to change in human diet as well. Humans started looking for substitutes and they discovered agriculture, their new mode of satisfying hunger. They started growing crops and cereals. And realized that staying at one place would help than being nomadic. Thus, the concept of civilization and static settlements came into being.
Dawn of Civilization & Meteor Impact
Whatever said and done, meteor impact alone cannot be the only reason for the dawn of civilization. During the prehistoric times, humans had identified that water is an essential source for growing crops and so many civilizations had been formed at the riverbanks.
In the near East, at the end of the ice age, the climatic conditions favored the plants such as cereals so people started cultivating. Elsewhere in East Asia, increased pressure on natural food resources forced people to look for home grow solutions.
Civilization and agriculture is the outcome of an asteroid impact or the melting of ice age, both contain a fair amount of guesswork. Possibility of growing crops from seeds one fine day by humans is also not a theory that one could easily digest. The knowledge has been learnt and transferred over the time of generations until enough was acquired to allow for static settlements.
Yet there will be more theories coming up that’ll chalk the way which the theorists believe might led to the ground work of early civilization.
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