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Water, Life, Humans, and Civilization

Water, Life, Humans, and Civilization. The First Organisms. Must survive in low-oxygen environments Could not eat other organisms for food. Assemble complex carbon compounds from simple Carbon compounds (CO 2 ) using external energy. Two energy sources:. Light and Chemical reactions.

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Water, Life, Humans, and Civilization

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  1. Water, Life, Humans, and Civilization

  2. The First Organisms Must survive in low-oxygen environments Could not eat other organisms for food Assemble complex carbon compounds from simple Carbon compounds (CO2) using external energy. Two energy sources: Light and Chemical reactions Light: photoautotrophs Chemical reactions: chemoautotrophs

  3. The First Organisms Light: photoautotrophs Chemical reactions: chemoautotrophs The First organisms: Chemoautotrophs (Fe and S) microtubes in pillow lavas containing residual carbon Evidence:

  4. The Early Organisms Must survive in low-oxygen environments Could not eat other organisms for food Photosynthesizers: photoautotrophs Blue-green algae/cyanobacteria Earliest: Main effects: - Removal of carbon dioxide - production of oxygen

  5. sediments Cyanobacteria colonies The Early Organisms stromatolites Oldest macroscopic life: Produced billions of tons of O2 No immediate increase in atmospheric O2 Stromatolites Oxygen O2 combined with iron

  6. Colonization of land: Ozone Layer Ozone Function: Screens harmful UV radiation First land plants 480 mya

  7. Skipping Ahead Reptiles ~245 million years ago Mammals ~65 million years ago Primates ~30 million years ago Pre-humans ~5-8 million years ago (hominids) Homo sapiens ~200,000 years ago

  8. Human Taxonomy Hominids distinct adaptations which may have led to the development of the human species.

  9. Lucy Age: 3.2 million years Family: hominidae Genus/Species: Australopithicus Afarensis “The earliest celebrity” Innovation: Walking upright lead to further anatomical progression

  10. Why Stand Up?

  11. Hypotheses Postural Feeding Hypothesis Thermoregulatory Model Wading Hypothesis Savanna Hypothesis

  12. Savanna Hypothesis Uplift of the Himalayas altered the climate in Africa Lowered rainfall reduced African vegetation Distance between trees increased Hominids forced to spend more time on the ground Hominids developed the advantage of walking upright Bipedalism lead to further anatomical progression

  13. Evolutionary Timeline Lack of consensus Paucity of Evidence - 25,000 yrs

  14. Scarcity of Fossil Evidence Homo sapiens are the only species to develop civilizations

  15. Water and the Development of Human Civilization

  16. Civilization • the settlement of people upon an area continuously cultivated and possessed, who live in buildings continuously inhabited with a common rule and economy, a common city, citadel or temple and, in some cases, a military and the development of writing. Possession Habitation Economy Citadel/Temple Military Writing

  17. Civilization The first condition necessary to the settling of humans. A trustworthy supply of water

  18. Earliest Civilizations and Water 1. Sumer/Mesopotamia Tigris-Euphrates rivers Egypt Nile river Indus Valley Indus river Developments Irrigation, cities, art, architecture, writing

  19. Civilization: Before and After

  20. Development Paleolithic (old stone age) was the first period in the development of human technology of the Stone Age. Homo habilis -2 million years ~12,000 years Stone Tools

  21. Development Neolithic (new stone age) was a period in the development of human technology that is traditionally the last part of the Stone Age -12,000 -3500 years • Domestication • Pottery • Weaving • Hafted Axes Cause of the change?

  22. Agriculture 20,000 years ago Development Of Agriculture (systematic/irrigated) 8,000 years ago Development was slow and variable

  23. Specialized skills • Diverse abilities Craftsmen Traders Technicians Neolithic Revolution food gatherers to food producers • Fewer Farmers • Surplus Food Why Then?

  24. Homo sapiens Forced Adaptation Climate and Water

  25. Spain Africa Italy Turkey Retreat of the Ice Gibraltar

  26. depletion of plants • Animal populations died back Consequences • Overpopulation of lands around the Mediterranean • Concentration of people into smaller areas • Overload of available resources • new survival strategies • till the earth • Pooled resources • Protect/domesticate animals

  27. Egypt and Mesopotamia Nile Jordan Tigris Euphrates Neolithic Founder Crops Wheat Barley Flax Chick Pea Lentil Domesticated animals: cows, goats, sheep, and pigs

  28. Time Perspective tool users 2,000,000 yrs agriculture 8,500 yrs iron age 3,000 yrs industrial revolution The Model T 61 years Moon landing

  29. Miscellaneous Vinyl 1926 Saran Wrap 1953 Velcro 1955 Plastic Garbage Bags 1968 Caller ID patented 1982 First soft drinks in all-aluminum cans 1964

  30. Life, Humans, Civilization, and Water Next: What’s So Special About Water?

  31. Egypt Tigris-Euphrates Nile 2/3 Egypt’s arable Land Predictable flooding (July through October) Khemia signifies black earth: flood deposition

  32. Mesopotamia Alluvial Plain (Water-deposited) Flood: March through June Less predictable Euphrates

  33. Agriculture and Irrigation Irrigation/Flood Control Canals Dikes Weirs Reservoirs Channels Sewer systems

  34. Mesopotamia: Water and Mythology The Great Flood (Sumerian, Babylonian, Akkadian)

  35. Enki water Sumerian deity of Water (lord of the watery abyss) Symbols: goat, fish

  36. Sumerian Flood Myth The Sumerian myth of Ziusudra tells how the god Enki warns Ziusudra, a provincial king, of the gods' decision to destroy mankind in a flood. Enki instructs Ziusudra to build a large boat - the text describing the instructions is lost. Circa 2900 BCE

  37. First Consolidated Empire Sumerian Akkadian Empire Sargon 2334 BC “My mother who was poor secretly gave birth to me; she placed me in a basket of reeds, she shut up the mouth of it with bitumen, she abandoned me to the river which did not overwhelm me. The river bore me away and brought me to Akki the irrigator.”

  38. Code of Hammurabi First Water Law Babylonian Empire 1750 B.C. • 53. If any one be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition, and does not so keep it; if then the dam break and all the fields be flooded, then shall he in whose dam the break occurred be sold for money, and the money shall replace the corn which he has caused to be ruined. • 54. If he be not able to replace the corn, then he and his possessions shall be divided among the farmers whose corn he has flooded. • 55. If any one open his ditches to water his crop, but is careless, and the water flood the field of his neighbor, then he shall pay his neighbor corn for his loss. • 56. If a man let in the water, and the water overflow the plantation of his neighbor, he shall pay ten gur of corn for every ten gan of land.

  39. Life, Humans, Civilization, and Water Next: What’s So Special About Water?

  40. Time Perspective tool users 2,000,000 yrs agriculture 8,500 yrs iron age 3,000 yrs industrial revolution The Model T 61 years Moon landing

  41. Miscellaneous Vinyl 1926 Saran Wrap 1953 Velcro 1955 Plastic Garbage Bags 1968 Caller ID patented 1982 First soft drinks in all-aluminum cans 1964

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