This timeline lists events in the external environment that have influenced events in human history. This timeline is for use with the article on environmental determinism.
For the history of humanity's influence on the environment, and humanity's perspective on this influence, see timeline of history of environmentalism. See list of years in the environment for the past 150 years on more discrete subjects that relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues. See List of periods and events in climate history for a timeline list focused on climate.
Pre-Holocene (1.5 Ma) The time from roughly 15,000 to 5,000 BCE was a time of transition, and swift and extensive environmental change, as the planet was moving from an Ice age, towards an interstadial (warm period). Sea levels rose dramatically (and are continuing to do so), land that was depressed by glaciers began lifting up again, forests and deserts expanded, and the climate gradually became more modern. In the process of warming up, the planet saw several "cold snaps" and "warm snaps", such as the Older Dryas and the Holocene climatic optimum, as well as heavier precipitation. In addition, the Pleistocene megafauna became extinct due to environmental and evolutionary pressures from the changing climate. This marked the end of the Quaternary extinction event, which was continued into the modern era by humans. The time around 11,700 years ago (9,700 BC) is widely considered to be the end of the old age (Pleistocene, Paleolithic, Stone Age, Wisconsin Ice Age), and the beginning of the modern world as we know it.
+ Year(s) Event(s)StartEndc. 2,588,000 BCc. 12,000 BCPleistocene erac. 21,000 BCRecent evidence indicates that humans processed (gathered) and consumed wild cereal grains as far back as 23,000 years ago.c. 20,000 BCAntarctica sees a very rapid and abrupt 6 °C increase in temperaturesc. 19,000 BCLast Glacial Maximum/sea-level minimumc. 20,000 BCc. 12,150 BCMesolithic 1 periodc. 17,000 BCc. 13,000 BCOldest Dryas stadial (cool period) during the last Ice age/glaciation in Europe.c. 13,000 BCBeginning of the Holocene extinction. Earliest evidence of warfare. Meltwater pulse 1A raises sea level 20 meters. Missoula floods occur.c. 12,670 BCc. 12,000 BCBølling oscillation interstadial (warm and moist period) between the Oldest Dryas and Older Dryas stadials (cool periods) at the end of the Last glacial period. In places where the Older Dryas was not seen, it is known as the Bølling–Allerød warming.c.12,340 BCc.11,140 BCCemetery 117: site of the world's first known battle/war.c.12,500 BCc.10,800 BCNatufian culture begins minor agriculturec. 12,150 BCc. 11,140 BCMesolithic 2 (Natufian culture), some sources have Mesolithic 2 ending at 9500 BCc. 12,000 BCc. 11,700 BCOlder Dryas stadial (cool period)c. 11,700 BCc. 10,800 BCAllerød oscillationc.13,000 BCc.11,000 BCLake Agassiz forms from glacial meltwater. It bursts and floods out through the Mackenzie River into the Arctic Ocean at 11,000 BC, possibly causing the Younger Dryas cold period.c. 12,000 BCc. 8,000 BC Göbekli Tepe, world's earliest known temple-like structure, is created.c. 10,800 BCYounger Dryas impact event is proposed to have occurred, causing the onset of the Younger Dryas.c. 10,800 BCYounger Dryas cold period begins.c. 10,000 BC Preboreal period begins. World: Sea levels rise abruptly and massive inland flooding occurs due to glacier melt. Neolithic culture begins, end of most recent glaciation. First cave drawings of the Mesolithic period are made, with war scenes and religious scenes, beginnings of what became story telling, and metamorphosed into acting.
10th millennium BC + Year(s) Event(s)StartEndc. 9700 BC Lake Agassiz reforms from glacial meltwater Bering Sea: Land bridge from Siberia to North America disappears as sea level rises. See Beringia for further information North America: Long Island becomes an island, and not just a terminal moraine, when rising waters break through on the western end of the interior lakec. 9660 to c. 9600 BCYounger Dryas cold period ends. Pleistocene ends and Holocene begins. Large amounts of previously glaciated land become habitable again. Some sources place the Younger Dryas as stretching from 10,800 BC to 9500 BC. This cool period was possibly caused by a shutdown of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation (Gulf Stream/Jet Stream), due to flooding from Lake Agassiz as it reformed.c. 9500 BC Ancylus Lake, part of the modern-day Baltic Sea, forms. There is evidence of harvesting, though not necessarily cultivation, of wild grasses in Asia Minor about this time. End of the pre-Boreal period of European climate change. Pollen Zone IV Pre-boreal, associated with juniper, willow, birch pollen deposits. Neolithic era begins in Ancient Near East. Evidence of the earliest settlement in Jericho In Antarctica, long-term melting of the Antarctic ice sheets is commencing. Creosote bush – Larrea tridentata clonal colony, named "King Clone", germinates in the Mojave Desert near the Lucerne Valley in California.Creosote Bush: Long-Lived Clones in the Mojave Desert, Frank C. Vasek, American Journal of Botany, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Feb, 1980), pp. 246–255http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=11165 Larrea tridentata – King Clonec. 9270 BCGreenland sees an abrupt and rapid 4 °C rise in temperaturesc. 9000 BCFirst stone structures at Jericho built.
9th millennium BC + Year(s) Event(s)StartEndc. 8500 BC to 7370Jericho is established as one of the oldest cities in the world sometime between 8500 BC and 7370 BCc. 8000 BC Transition from Boreal period to Atlantic period Last Glacial Period ends Upper Paleolithic period ends and the Mesolithic period begins Old Man of the Mountain formed in New Hampshire by retreating glaciers Antarctica — long-term melting of the Antarctic ice sheets is under way. Asia — rising sea levels caused by postglacial warming. North America — The glaciers were receding and by 8000 BC the Wisconsin glaciation had withdrawn completely. World — Inland flooding due to catastrophic glacier melt takes place in several regions. Neolithic Revolution, some humans begin to switch from a hunter-gatherer existence to agriculture.
8th millennium BC + Year(s) Event(s)StartEndc. 7900 BCc. 7700 BCLake Agassiz refills from glacial melt-water around 7900 BC as Glaciers retreat northc. 7640 BCDate theorized for impact of Tollmann's hypothetical bolide with Earth and associated global cataclysm.c. 7500 BC Mesolithic hunters reach Ireland 9,500-year-old Norway spruce – Picea abies clonal colony named "Old Tjikko" germinates in Sweden.Science Daily: World's Oldest Living clonal tree, 9550 years old, Discovered In Sweden7500–7000 BC3500–3000 BCNeolithic Subpluvial begins in northern Africa, Mesolithic period ends. Until about 5000 BC, the Sahara desert is substantially wetter than today, comparable to a savannah as part of the African humid period.
7th millennium BC + Year(s) Event(s)StartEndc. 6600 BCJiahu symbols, carved on tortoise shells in Jiahu, Northern Chinac. 6500 BC English Channel formed Ubaid period begins in Mesopotamia Chalcolithic (Copper Age) and invention of the wheel occur during this time Paleolithic period ends and Neolithic period begins in China, continues to 2300 BCc.6440±25 BCKurile volcano on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula has VEI 7 eruption. It is one of the largest of the Holocene epochc. 6400 BCLake Agassiz drains into oceans for the final time, leaving Lakes Manitoba, Winnipeg, Winnipegosis, and Lake of the Woods, among others in the region, as its remnants. The draining may have caused the 8.2 kiloyear event, 200 years laterc. 6200 BC8.2-kiloyear event, a sudden significant cooling episodec. 6100 BCThe Storegga Slide, causing a megatsunami in the Norwegian Seac. 6000 BC Climatic or Thermal Maximum, the warmest period in the past 125,000 years, with minimal glaciation and highest sea levels. (McEvedy) Rising sea levels form the Torres Strait, separate Australia from New Guinea. Increasing desiccation of the Sahara. End of the Saharan Pluvial period. Associated with Pollen Zone VI Atlantic, oak-elm woodlands, warmer and maritime climate. Modern wild fauna plus, increasingly, human introductions, associated with the spread of the Neolithic farming technologies. Rising sea levels from glacial retreat flood what will become the Irish Sea, separating the island of Ireland from the British Isles and Continental Europe.
6th millennium BC + Year(s) Event(s)StartEndc. 5600 BCAccording to the Black Sea deluge theory, the Black Sea floods with salt water. Some 3000 cubic miles (12,500 km3) of salt water is added, significantly expanding it and transforming it from a fresh-water landlocked lake into a salt water sea.c. 5500 BCBeginning of the desertification of north Africa, which ultimately leads to the formation of the Sahara desert from land that was previously savannah, though it remains wetter than today. It's possible this process pushed people in the area into migrating to the region of the Nile in the east, thereby laying the groundwork for the rise of Egyptian civilization.c. 5300 BC Vinča symbols (Tărtăria tablets), an example of proto-writingc. 5000 BC The Older Peron transgression, a global warm period, begins. Use of a sail begins. The first known picture is on an Egyptian urn found in Luxor. Transition from Atlantic period to Subboreal period Metallurgy appears5000 BC700 BCMegalithic Temples of Malta were created
5th millennium BC + Year(s) Event(s)StartEndc. 4570 BCc. 4250 BCMerimde culture on the Nile River4400 BC3500 BC Amratian/Naqada I culture in Predynastic Egypt4000 BC3100 BC Uruk period begins in Mesopotamia
4th millennium BC + Year(s) Event(s)StartEnd3900 BC Intense aridification triggered worldwide migration to river valleys, which might have caused changes in human behaviour. End of the Ubaid period.3600 BC2800 BC Climatic deterioration in Western Europe and the Sahara as the African humid period ends. In Europe Pollen zone VII Sub Boreal, oak and beech. Glacial advances of the Piora Oscillation, with lower economic prosperity in areas not able to irrigate in the Middle East.3500 BC to 3000 BCThe end of the Neolithic Subpluvial era and return of extremely hot and dry conditions in the Sahara Desert, hastened by the 5.9 kiloyear event and the Piora Oscillation.3500 BC3200 BCGerzeh/Naqada II culture in Egypt3200 BC3000 BCNaqada III and Protodynastic Period of Egypt3100 BC2686 BCEarly Dynastic Period of Egypt. The hallmarks of Ancient Egypt (art, architecture, religion) all formed during this period. This is widely assumed to be the time and place of the first writing system, the Egyptian hieroglyphs (date is disputed, some claim they were used as far back as 3200 BC, while others believe they weren't invented until the 28th century BC).between 3000 BC and 2800 BC30 km/19 mi-wide Burckle Crater is formed in Indian Ocean from a possible meteor or comet impact.
3rd millennium BC + Year(s) Event(s)StartEndc. 30th century BC c. 3000 BC: Stonehenge begins to be built. In its first version, it consists of a circular ditch and bank, with 56 wooden posts. (National Geographic, June 2008).