Archive of Human Genius

Through aggressive conservation and sustainable development efforts, humanity succeeds in significantly slowing biodiversity loss and perhaps even ending Earth’s “sixth mass extinction” event. Combined with extensive climate mitigation and adaptation, these conservation efforts help restore the world’s ecosystems to their former vibrancy and health, supporting both the innate value of natural life and the human economies that rely on that life.

Evidence from the Warratyi rock shelter in Australia’s Flinders Ranges dates human settlement of the arid interior to 49,000 years ago. The site contains the continent’s oldest bone tools and hafted instruments, alongside interactions with megafauna. This demonstrates that early humans rapidly developed the specific technologies necessary to inhabit harsh inland environments.