Last Glacial Maximum refugia
[3] The colder climate contributed to ice sheet growth in North America, Europe, and Antarctica.
Some recent archaeological evidence suggests the possibility that human arrival in the Americas may have occurred prior to the Last Glacial Maximum more than 30,000 years ago.
Aside from human habitation in the north, other animals and vegetation thrived in refugia south of ice sheets.
Vast areas of Australia and Africa were too dry for human habitation of any sort,[5] even by the most specialized and well-adapted foragers.
The Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets overtook the majority of Canada and parts of the United States during the last glaciation.
South of the glaciers, the major biomes on the continent were tropical semi-desert, subalpine parkland, temperate steppe grassland, and main taiga.
During the LGM, beech and maple trees were found in temperate deciduous forests in the southeast United States.
[9] As the glacier retreated, trees and other vegetation would have migrated north to follow the climatic conditions they required.
[11] South of the glaciers housed a steppe-tundra climate, along with small sections of forest steppe and open boreal woodlands.
Several requirements of these refugia include: soil moisture, relatively warm temperatures, shelter from wind, and no permafrost.
[17] Climate conditions in central Asia were generally too harsh to allow human habitation, although some hominin sites in Uzbekistan probably date to periods of glacial maxima.
[7] The Sahara desert, in Northern Africa, during the LGM moved slightly south due to the ice sheets in the north.
Even with the cold, the Mediterranean housed a mosaic of suitable micro climates for temperate and thermophilic animals.
[22] Today, Southern Africa consists mainly of savannas, deciduous woodlands, tropical rainforests, and deserts.
The Zambezi, Omo river, and the Great Rift Valley lakes were major sources of water in southern Africa.
[22] The ITCZ, trade winds, and insolation created an environment that allowed high precipitation rates in the Amazon.
The change in location is theorized to be caused by a lack of cold tundra areas, as well as higher sea level.
Australia housed refugia such as the Gulf Plans/Einasleigh Uplands, Brigalow Belt South, Murray Darling Depression, Tasmanian Central Highlands, and many others.
