A brand new study has found that early settlers within the Southeast Asian region were forced to maneuver to South Asia when sea levels began to rise around 26,000 years ago, affecting the region’s coastal landscape. This discovery was made possible due to the outcomes of the study.
A gaggle of researchers from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore analyzed historical evidence suggesting that rising sea levels are affecting populations living on the Malay Peninsula, the islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Java, all of which were originally part of a giant landmass. generally known as Sundaland. Their research was published Saturday within the journal Nature.
In a press release, Kim Hie, assistant professor at NTU’s Asian School of the Environment and principal investigator on the Singapore Center for Environmental Engineering within the Life Sciences, discussed how the findings highlighted the impact of environmental change on human history and migration.
Environmental changes have had a major impact on the course of human history, including migration, growth, and population dispersion. However, the impact of environmental changes on the genetic composition of populations is a subject that has received less attention. Our research is the primary to document evidence that rising sea levels have modified the genetic makeup of human populations in Southeast Asia, which continues to affect modern populations.
According to the study, the group created paleogeographic maps of South and Southeast Asia using sea level data from 26,000 years ago to the current day. This data was used to construct maps.
NTU scientists found, using paleogeography, the study of historical physical landscapes, that sea level in South and Southeast Asia rose by as much as 130 meters (about 427 feet) between the period of the Last Glacial Maximum (which occurred about 26,000 to twenty,000 years ago ago) and the mid-Holocene Nineteen Fifties. This was about 427 feet higher than today (about 6,000 years ago).
In addition to paleogeographic maps, the NTU team used population genetics of their research. The team used whole-genome sequence data developed by GenomeAsia 100K, a nonprofit company founded in 2016 and run by the university.
The researchers then examined high-quality genetic data from 59 different ethnic groups that were indigenous to South and Southeast Asia 50,000 years ago. The NTU scientists were in a position to draw conclusions in regards to the groups’ genetic origins and demographic history using the knowledge provided, which included details resembling the groups’ location and population size.
Using these methods, NTU scientists were in a position to pinpoint two periods of rapid sea level rise. At this time, a part of the region was flooded and the land was divided into several smaller islands. This resulted within the population of Sundaland being divided into several smaller groups.
The team also found that temperatures had began to rise because the Last Glacial Maximum, which created an environment favorable to human population growth. This resulted in a rise in population density within the island region of Southeast Asia that was no less than eight times greater than on the time of the Last Glacial Maximum.
According to the study, overpopulation as a direct consequence of rising sea levels and temperatures has forced people to maneuver their communities inland to mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia.
