Podcasts about green sahara

Journey across 12,000 years of history, myth, and fresh discoveries to assemble the mystifying ancient puzzle that is Atlantis! Go beyond the hit documentary and dive far deeper into the history, science, and philosophy of the lost continent.Past mistranslations and bizarre fringe theories have long relegated Atlantis to the realm of fantasy. But the latest research in linguistics, climate science, and ancient Greek philology suggests that the myth's setting was real African geography during a prehistoric period called the Green Sahara.Explore the amazing truth behind the most misunderstood mystery of all time and find out exactly how the story of 9600 BCE matches up with modern archaeology.In the early twenty-first century, Greek researcher George Sarantitis re-examined everything about Atlantis written in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias. In detective-story style, learn how painstaking re-translations and physical tests in West Africa seem to confirm something astounding: the lost continent described in the myth was a real place, and no, it never sank! But were the events in the tale “real,” or a complex interweaving of myth, history, and profound philosophy? You'll find the answer here in The Atlantis Puzzle!Jack Kelley (1980- ) studied ancient history, philosophy, literature, language, and architecture at Yale, completing the Directed Studies program there. He is the writer and producer of Solver (2018) and the creator of the award-winning documentary The Atlantis Puzzle (2024).https://www.empirebuilderproductions.com/the-atlantis-puzzleBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/earth-ancients--2790919/support.

FOLLOW RICHARD Website: https://www.strangeplanet.ca YouTube: @strangeplanetradio Instagram: @richardsyrettstrangeplanet TikTok: @therealstrangeplanet EP. # 1285 Atlantis Discovery: The Mistranslated Continent For 2,400 years we've searched the wrong ocean. Filmmaker Jack Kelley reveals that Plato's Atlantis never sank beneath the Atlantic; deliberate mistranslations turned an inland African metropolis into a maritime myth. Working from the original Greek of Timaeus and Critias, Kelley and engineer George Sarantitis relocate the lost capital to the prehistoric Green Sahara, when lakes were seas and deserts bloomed. Half-million-year-old Zambian beams, 130,000-year-old Cretan seafaring, transcontinental Stone Age trade routes: the evidence is overwhelming. Atlantis wasn't fantasy. It was history—hidden in plain text, waiting for someone brave enough to read Plato correctly. GUEST: Jack Kelley is the Yale-educated filmmaker and author of The Atlantis Puzzle documentary and book. By partnering with Greek engineer George Sarantitis and returning to Plato's unfiltered Greek, he overturned two millennia of scholarly error, proving Atlantis was a real Bronze-Age power drowned by climate shift in North Africa, not by Poseidon's wrath. Methodical, unflinching, and allergic to mysticism, Kelley doesn't chase legends—he corrects the record. WEBSITE: https://www.empirebuilderproductions.com BOOK: The Atlantis Puzzle: A True Story of Ancient Greece, Africa, And Climate Change Across Deep Time SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!!! FOUND – Smarter banking for your business Take back control of your business today. Open a Found account for FREE at Found dot com. That's F-O-U-N-D dot com. Found is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Lead Bank, Member FDIC. Join the hundreds of thousands who've already streamlined their finances with Found. HIMS - Making Healthy and Happy Easy to Achieve Sexual Health, Hair Loss, Mental Health, Weight Management START YOUR FREE ONLINE VISIT TODAY - ⁠HIMS dot com slash STRANGE⁠ ⁠https://www.HIMS.com/strange⁠ MINT MOBILE Premium Wireless - $15 per month. No Stores. No Salespeople. JUST SAVINGS Ready to say yes to saying no? Make the switch at MINT MOBILE dot com slash STRANGEPLANET. That's MINT MOBILE dot com slash STRANGEPLANET BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER!!!⁠ ⁠https://strangeplanet.supportingcast.fm⁠ Three monthly subscriptions to choose from. Commercial Free Listening, Bonus Episodes and a Subscription to my monthly newsletter, InnerSanctum. Visit ⁠https://strangeplanet.supportingcast.fm⁠ Use the discount code "Planet" to receive $5 OFF off any subscription. We and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. By using our website and services, you agree to our use of cookies as described in our Cookie Policy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://strangeplanet.supportingcast.fm/

When the Sahara was green, humans thrived across North Africa. Then everything changed.A sudden climate shift turned the region into a desert — triggering one of the greatest migrations in human history… and possibly the genetic bottleneck that wiped out up to 90% of all men across the planet. In this episode, researcher Michael Buttonbreaks down:·       What the Green Sahara actually looked like·       The climatic collapse that forced mass migration·       How population models show a near-complete wipeout of male lineages·       Why Europe, the Middle East, and Africa all show the same sudden genetic reset·       Whether war, scarcity, or social restructuring caused the male die-off·       How this single moment reshaped global ancestry, culture, and civilization·       What this means for human origins — and what history books still get wrong This might be the most important ancient-humanity story never told.  Follow Matt Beall Limitless: https://x.com/MattbLimitlesshttps://x.com/MBeallX https://www.tiktok.com/@mblimitless https://www.instagram.com/mattbealllimitless/ https://www.facebook.com/people/Matt-Beall-Limitless/61556879741320/ Check out our Shorts & ClipsClip Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MBLimitlessClipsShorts Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MBLimitlessShorts Listen Everywhere: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MattBeallLimitlessApple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/matt-beall-limitless/id1712917413  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-6727221 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MattBeallLimitless   Check out Michael Button:https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelButton1https://x.com/MichaelButtonXhttps://www.instagram.com/michaelbuttonx/  Timeline:00:00:00 - Introductions00:05:18 - Life in the Academic Sector?00:12:08 - What has the backlash been like?00:18:02 - How far back do humans go?00:27:17 - Best Evidence for Lost Civilizations00:45:16 - Ancient Seafaring00:59:13 - Humans in the Americas01:04:35 - Denisovans01:11:33 - UAP & UFO's01:16:37 - Mars01:27:00 – 90% of Men Killed in a War01:37:54 - Hawara01:52:27 - Egypt01:59:41 - Mathematics in Ancient CIV02:06:09 - Interesting Finds UK02:11:59 - Human History Timeline02:14:46 - Mushrooms02:19:51 – Consciousness02:26:05 – Closing #GreenSahara #SaharaExodus #HumanOrigins #AncientHistory#MichaelButton #LimitlessPodcast #GeneticBottleneck #ClimateChangeHistory#Prehistory #MigrationPatterns #LostCivilizations #Anthropology The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are notnecessarily the views of the host or of any business related to the host.

  On this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib talks to human geneticist Cesar Fortes-Lima about his paper from earlier this year, Population history and admixture of the Fulani people from the Sahel. Fortes-Lima has a Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology, and his primary research areas include African genetic diversity, the African diaspora, the transatlantic slave trade, demographic inference, admixture dynamics and mass migrations. Formerly a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Human Evolution at Uppsala University, Forest-Lima is now an instructor in genetic medicine at the Johns Hopkins University. He is also a returning guest to the podcast, having earlier come on to discuss his paper The genetic legacy of the expansion of Bantu-speaking peoples in Africa. Razib and Fortes-Lima first contextualize who the Fulani are in the West African socio-historical context, in particular, their role as transmitters of Islam across the Sahel. They also discuss the importance of having numerous Fulani subpopulations in the publication; earlier work had generalized about the Fulani from a small number of samples from a single tribe. Fortes-Lima highlights the primary finding, in particular, that the Fulani seem to have what we now call “Ancient North African” (ANA) ancestry. That people was related to, but not descended from, the “out of Africa” population which gave rise to Eurasians. They also explore the role of natural selection in allowing the Fulani to subsist on a diet high in milk, and how the Fulani lactase persistence mutation is exact same with Eurasians rather than East Africans. Fortest-Lima also reviews some of the earlier 20th-century anthropological speculations about the origins of the Fulani, and what his results show about their affinities (or lack thereof) to groups in West Asia and the Maghreb.

  On this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib comments on a new paper in Nature, Ancient DNA from the Green Sahara reveals ancestral North African lineage. Here is the abstract: Although it is one of the most arid regions today, the Sahara Desert was a green savannah during the African Humid Period (AHP) between 14,500 and 5,000 years before present, with water bodies promoting human occupation and the spread of pastoralism in the middle Holocene epoch1. DNA rarely preserves well in this region, limiting knowledge of the Sahara's genetic history and demographic past. Here we report ancient genomic data from the Central Sahara, obtained from two approximately 7,000-year-old Pastoral Neolithic female individuals buried in the Takarkori rock shelter in southwestern Libya. The majority of Takarkori individuals' ancestry stems from a previously unknown North African genetic lineage that diverged from sub-Saharan African lineages around the same time as present-day humans outside Africa and remained isolated throughout most of its existence. Both Takarkori individuals are closely related to ancestry first documented in 15,000-year-old foragers from Taforalt Cave, Morocco2, associated with the Iberomaurusian lithic industry and predating the AHP. Takarkori and Iberomaurusian-associated individuals are equally distantly related to sub-Saharan lineages, suggesting limited gene flow from sub-Saharan to Northern Africa during the AHP. In contrast to Taforalt individuals, who have half the Neanderthal admixture of non-Africans, Takarkori shows ten times less Neanderthal ancestry than Levantine farmers, yet significantly more than contemporary sub-Saharan genomes. Our findings suggest that pastoralism spread through cultural diffusion into a deeply divergent, isolated North African lineage that had probably been widespread in Northern Africa during the late Pleistocene epoch.

Did you know the Sahara Desert was once green and full of life? Thousands of years ago, it had rivers, lakes, and even forests, home to animals like hippos and giraffes. But over time, a shift in Earth's climate turned it into the vast, dry desert we see today. Scientists believe changes in the planet's orbit and rainfall patterns caused this massive transformation. Some even think the Sahara could turn green again in the distant future! It's a wild reminder that Earth's landscapes are always changing—even in ways we never expect. Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/ Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD... Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook:   / brightplanet   Instagram:   / brightside.official   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.of... Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jack Kelley is the creator of the documentary the Atlantis Puzzle available to buy or rent on Youtube. Low Value Mail is a live call-in show with some of the most interesting guests the internet has to offer. Every Monday night at 9pm ET Support The Show:

https://www.patreon.com/GnosticInformant Please Consider joining my Patreon to help finding scholars to bring on. Any amount helps me. Thank you existing Patrons. 2nd Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LateNiteGnosis Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NealSendlak1 Discord: https://discord.com/invite/uWBZkxd4UX Most historians have suggested that Sumer was first permanently settled between c. 5500 – c. 3300 BC by a West Asian people who spoke the Sumerian language (pointing to the names of cities, rivers, basic occupations, etc., as evidence), a non-Semitic and non-Indo-European agglutinative language isolate. The Blau Monuments combine proto-cuneiform characters and illustrations of early Sumerians, Jemdet Nasr period, 3100–2700 BC. British Museum. Others have suggested that the Sumerians were a North African people who migrated from the Green Sahara into the Middle East and were responsible for the spread of farming in the Middle East. However, with evidence strongly suggesting the first farmers originated from the Fertile Crescent, this suggestion is often discarded. Although not specifically discussing Sumerians, Lazaridis et al. 2016 have suggested a partial North African origin for some pre-Semitic cultures of the Middle East, particularly Natufians, after testing the genomes of Natufian and Pre-Pottery Neolithic culture-bearers. Alternatively, a recent (2013) genetic analysis of four ancient Mesopotamian skeletal DNA samples suggests an association of the Sumerians with Indus Valley Civilisation, possibly as a result of ancient Indus–Mesopotamia relations. According to some data, the Sumerians are associated with the Hurrians and Urartians, and the Caucasus is considered their homeland. A prehistoric people who lived in the region before the Sumerians have been termed the "Proto-Euphrateans" or "Ubaidians", and are theorized to have evolved from the Samarra culture of northern Mesopotamia. The Ubaidians, though never mentioned by the Sumerians themselves, are assumed by modern-day scholars to have been the first civilizing force in Sumer. They drained the marshes for agriculture, developed trade, and established industries, including weaving, leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery. Enthroned Sumerian king of Ur, possibly Ur-Pabilsag, with attendants. Standard of Ur, c. 2600 BC. Some scholars contest the idea of a Proto-Euphratean language or one substrate language; they think the Sumerian language may originally have been that of the hunting and fishing peoples who lived in the marshland and the Eastern Arabia littoral region and were part of the Arabian bifacial culture. Reliable historical records begin much later; there are none in Sumer of any kind that have been dated before Enmebaragesi (Early Dynastic I). Juris Zarins believes the Sumerians lived along the coast of Eastern Arabia, today's Persian Gulf region, before it was flooded at the end of the Ice Age. Sumerian civilization took form in the Uruk period (4th millennium BC), continuing into the Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynastic periods. The Sumerians progressively lost control to Semitic states from the northwest. Sumer was conquered by the Semitic-speaking kings of the Akkadian Empire around 2270 BC (short chronology), but Sumerian continued as a sacred language. Native Sumerian rule re-emerged for about a century in the Third Dynasty of Ur at approximately 2100–2000 BC, but the Akkadian language also remained in use for some time. The Sumerian city of Eridu, on the coast of the Persian Gulf, is considered to have been one of the oldest cities, where three separate cultures may have fused: that of peasant Ubaidian farmers, living in mud-brick huts and practicing irrigation; that of mobile nomadic Semitic pastoralists living in black tents and following herds of sheep and goats; and that of fisher folk, living in reed huts in the marshlands, who may have been the ancestors of the Sumerians. #gnosticinformant #bible #documentary --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gnosticinformant/message

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Deep in the western Sahara—in perhaps one of the driest parts of the driest desert in the world—there are cave paintings that depict people swimming. These cave paintings date to 10,000 years ago. Back then, there would have been plenty of water to swim in. It was a time when the Sahara was green. Join us as we pull back the curtain on a tantalizing time when the Sahara was a wetland paradise, with enormous megalakes, vast networks of wild rivers, and people who created stunning rock art, built complex megalithic structures, mummified their dead—and whose beliefs and culture may have formed the foundation of ancient Egyptian civilization. Sponsors and Advertising This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to advertising@airwavemedia.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The most striking environmental shift on the planet in the Holocene epoch was the greening of the Sahara. For thousands of years, the now-deserts of northern Africa were a mosaic of savannahs, river valleys, and shallow lakes. This unique environment produced the ways of life that eventually brought pastoralism and food production, as well as a variety of language families and populations, to the furthest corners of the continent.Patrick's book is now available! Get The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years that Shook the World in hardcopy, ebook, or audiobook (read by Patrick) here: https://bit.ly/PWverge Listen to new episodes 1 week early, to exclusive seasons 1 and 2, and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/tidesofhistory.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

That drought may have brought about societal shifts in the region 5,000 years ago. Christopher Intagliata reports.

That drought may have brought about societal shifts in the region 5,000 years ago. Christopher Intagliata reports.

Michael C. Sharp interview plus new music from Green Sahara, a farewell to Ennio Morricone and a throwback track from Jawbox

GREEN SAHARA "Set 2 Expire" Burger Records (2020)

The grass is always greener on the other side (of the Holocene). What is today a vast and inhospitable home to many people and creatures was, between ten and five thousand years ago, a lush environment replete with lakes, forests, and grasses. We examine the first clues that suggested a Green Sahara to researchers, explore the technologies and societies that lived there, and contemplate what the Sahara's past might suggest about its future. Links Megalakes in the Sahara? A Review (Quaternary Research) Saharan Dust Blows Across the Atlantic (NOAA) The emergence of pottery in Africa during the tenth millennium cal BC : new evidence from Ounjougou (Mali) (Antiquity) Ounjougou Technological and Cultural Change Among the Last Hunter-Gatherers of the Maghreb: The Capsian (10,000–6000 B.P.) (Journal of World Prehistory) Capsian (Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology) The 8,000-year-old dugout canoe from Dufuna (NE Nigeria) Africa's oldest boat set for exhibit in Nigeria (Africa Times) First dairying in green Saharan Africa in the fifth millennium BC (Nature) History of the Domestication of Cows and Yaks (ThoughtCo) Chad Genetic Diversity Reveals an African History Marked by Multiple Holocene Eurasian Migrations (American Journal of Human Genetics) End of the African Humid Period (NOAA) End of the African Humid Period (Nature) Climate Change in North Africa: The Past is Not the Future (Climatic Change) Contact Email the Dirt Podcast Affiliates Wildnote TeePublic Timeular

The grass is always greener on the other side (of the Holocene). What is today a vast and inhospitable home to many people and creatures was, between ten and five thousand years ago, a lush environment replete with lakes, forests, and grasses. We examine the first clues that suggested a Green Sahara to researchers, explore the technologies and societies that lived there, and contemplate what the Sahara's past might suggest about its future. Links Megalakes in the Sahara? A Review (Quaternary Research) Saharan Dust Blows Across the Atlantic (NOAA) The emergence of pottery in Africa during the tenth millennium cal BC : new evidence from Ounjougou (Mali) (Antiquity) Ounjougou Technological and Cultural Change Among the Last Hunter-Gatherers of the Maghreb: The Capsian (10,000–6000 B.P.) (Journal of World Prehistory) Capsian (Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology) The 8,000-year-old dugout canoe from Dufuna (NE Nigeria) Africa's oldest boat set for exhibit in Nigeria (Africa Times) First dairying in green Saharan Africa in the fifth millennium BC (Nature) History of the Domestication of Cows and Yaks (ThoughtCo) Chad Genetic Diversity Reveals an African History Marked by Multiple Holocene Eurasian Migrations (American Journal of Human Genetics) End of the African Humid Period (NOAA) End of the African Humid Period (Nature) Climate Change in North Africa: The Past is Not the Future (Climatic Change) Contact Email the Dirt Podcast Affiliates Wildnote TeePublic Timeular

David and Rachel discuss the era of the green Sahara Desert.

GREEN SAHARA "Creature Of The Night" Burger Records (2019) LISTEN ON SPOTIFY: https://spoti.fi/2m7lAHs

GREEN SAHARA "Vinyl Fantasy" Produced by Philippe Andre Burger Records (2019)

GREEN SAHARA "Generation Sex" Burger Records (2018) https://greensahara.bandcamp.com

On this episode of Expanded Perspectives the guys talk about how a lot of people mix up children's names or friends' names and as it turns out it's because you love them. It's not related to a bad memory or to aging, but rather to how the brain categorizes names. It's like having special folders for family names and friends names stored in the brain. Then, according to a new study recently published in the journal Science Advances, evidence shows that humans occupied much of the Sahara during the ‘wet period’ around 8,000 years ago. Through an analysis of marine sediments, researchers at the University of Arizona have determined rainfall patterns in the Sahara over a period of 6,000 years obtaining fascinating results. The UA-led team has identified the climate pattern that generated a “Green Sahara” from 5,000 to 11,000 years ago. The region had 10 times the rainfall it does today. Then, a Tennessee resident was recently startled by a Bigfoot type creature. Around 10:00pm a man heard some rustling around on his back patio. He went out to investigate and that's when he saw a large hairy humanoid. Then, Cam brings up the story of "Viracocha". Viracocha was the supreme god of the Incas. He is also known as Huiracocha, Wiraqoca and Wiro Qocha. Considered the creator god he was the father of all other Inca gods and it was he who formed the earth, heavens, sun, moon and all living beings. When he finished his work he was believed to have travelled far and wide teaching humanity and bringing the civilised arts before he headed west across the Pacific, never to be seen again but promising one day to return. In his absence lesser deities were assigned the duty of looking after the interests of the human race but Viracocha was, nevertheless, always watching from afar the progress of his children. Thanks for listening to Expanded Perspectives! Show Notes: When The Brain Scrambles Names, It's Because You Love Them The Sahara was ‘green’ for over 6,000 years and had 10 times more rain than now Tennessee Resident Startled by ‘Bigfoot’ Viracocha Plumed Serpent: Ancient Bearded Gods Of The Americas (Book) Elongated Skulls Of Peru And Bolivia: The Path Of Viracocha (Book)                               Sponsors: GAIA Blue Apron Music: All music for Expanded Perspectives is provided by Pretty Lights. Purchase, Download and Donate at www.prettylightsmusic.com. Songs Used: Pretty Lights vs. Led Zeppelin Around The Block Double Love Take The Sun Away

On this episode of Expanded Perspectives the guys talk about how a lot of people mix up children's names or friends' names and as it turns out it's because you love them. It's not related to a bad memory or to aging, but rather to how the brain categorizes names. It's like having special folders for family names and friends names stored in the brain. Then, according to a new study recently published in the journal Science Advances, evidence shows that humans occupied much of the Sahara during the ‘wet period’ around 8,000 years ago. Through an analysis of marine sediments, researchers at the University of Arizona have determined rainfall patterns in the Sahara over a period of 6,000 years obtaining fascinating results. The UA-led team has identified the climate pattern that generated a “Green Sahara” from 5,000 to 11,000 years ago. The region had 10 times the rainfall it does today. Then, a Tennessee resident was recently startled by a Bigfoot type creature. Around 10:00pm a man heard some rustling around on his back patio. He went out to investigate and that's when he saw a large hairy humanoid. Then, Cam brings up the story of "Viracocha". Viracocha was the supreme god of the Incas. He is also known as Huiracocha, Wiraqoca and Wiro Qocha. Considered the creator god he was the father of all other Inca gods and it was he who formed the earth, heavens, sun, moon and all living beings. When he finished his work he was believed to have travelled far and wide teaching humanity and bringing the civilised arts before he headed west across the Pacific, never to be seen again but promising one day to return. In his absence lesser deities were assigned the duty of looking after the interests of the human race but Viracocha was, nevertheless, always watching from afar the progress of his children. Thanks for listening to Expanded Perspectives! Show Notes: When The Brain Scrambles Names, It's Because You Love Them The Sahara was ‘green’ for over 6,000 years and had 10 times more rain than now Tennessee Resident Startled by ‘Bigfoot’ Viracocha Plumed Serpent: Ancient Bearded Gods Of The Americas (Book) Elongated Skulls Of Peru And Bolivia: The Path Of Viracocha (Book)                              Sponsors: GAIA Blue Apron Music: All music for Expanded Perspectives is provided by Pretty Lights. Purchase, Download and Donate at www.prettylightsmusic.com. Songs Used: Pretty Lights vs. Led Zeppelin Around The Block Double Love Take The Sun Away

Egypt’s pharaonic civilization rose on the Nile, but it was rooted in the deep Saharan desert and pushed by climate change, says Stefan Kröpelin. Described in Nature magazine as “one of the most devoted Sahara explorers of our time,” Kröpelin has survived every kind of desert hardship to discover the climate and cultural history of northern Africa. He found that the “Green Sahara” arrived with monsoon rains 10,500 years ago, and people quickly moved into the new fertile savannah. There they prospered as cattle pastoralists—their elaborate rock paintings show herds of rhinoceros and scenes of prehistoric life—until 7,300 years ago, when gradually increasing desiccation drove them to the Nile river, which they had previously considered too dangerous for occupation. To manage the Nile, the former pastoralists helped to invent a pharaonic state 5,100 years ago. Its 3,000-year continuity has never been surpassed. Kröpelin, a climate scientist at the University of Cologne, is a dazzling speaker with hair-raising stories, great images, and a compelling tale about climate change and civilization.

E. Bryan Cooper Owens