Brrr

The winter storm that rolled over much of the East Coast this week merely glanced my inland NJ location on its way from battering the South to pummeling New England. Nonetheless, the few inches of snow in combination with temperatures of 7 degrees (-14 C) were enough to make me question once again why I live in a Northern state. They also make me wonder once again why our early modern human ancestors moved north at all.

Migrating into the cold was not the first instinct of our ancestors. Those that left Africa some 65,000 years ago (after not having bothered for 100,000 years) hugged the southern coastline of Eurasia in their initial trek outward. They reached Australia before they reached Europe. This seems eminently sensible to me. We are, after all, tropical creatures. Unclothed humans feel chilly at 77 degrees (25 C), so even a sunny Mediterranean climate requires some protection most of the time. Besides, Europe and much of Central Asia already were inhabited by cold-adapted Neanderthals and Denisovans; the small but notable percentage of DNA from both archaic species currently found in non-African modern humans dates from this early phase of the out-of-Africa migration as they brushed against the southern flank of their ancient cousins’ range. It was only after the southerly regions were in their hands that modern humans turned north and took those lands for themselves. Why did they? There were abundant resources up there. Colder climes were rich in fish and game – particularly large game such as ibex, aurochs, red deer, and horse, which provided a feast with a single kill – as well as edible nuts and plants. These attracted bands northward while the annoyance of fellow humans to the south repelled.

Still, I imagine they had second thoughts when the winter winds whipped up and their bearskin clothes failed to stave off shivers. More than a few must have succumbed to hypothermia. In subfreezing temperatures without proper protection this can happen in minutes. Even in fairly recent times cold proved to be a deal killer for would-be settlers. The Little Ice Age lasted roughly from 1300 to 1850, reaching the most bone-chillingly low temperatures around 1600. It put an end to Norse settlements in Greenland and North America. It scuppered several European attempts to secure a foothold in North America north of Spain’s tenuously held St. Augustine settlement in Florida. Jamestown was a very near thing – and that was Virginia.

My quasi-niece & friends enjoying
the cold

There are still attractive riches in northern regions, of course, which explains in large part why 21^st century humans choose to live there. It is possible to adapt to extreme cold even without modern conveniences. The Inuit, unlike the Norse, thrived in Little Ice Age Greenland. My own perseverance owes more to inertia than ambition, however. I grew up here, friends and family are here, and my home is here. Picking up stakes and moving would be both expensive and troublesome. Nonetheless, in a straight-up choice I’d pick a tropical grass hut over an arctic igloo any day. The day yet may come when I pick it over my current house, too.

Clip from Nanook of the North (1922)