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Crap Report: Scientists Examining Poop For Climate Change Evidence
Human waste can map two millennia of history and climate change in a remote, Arctic settlement in Norway, according to a new study.
The findings suggest that human waste deposits could help researchers untangle the effects of natural and human-caused climate changes.
“We’re able to really effectively disentangle what’s human and what’s natural,” said study co-author Robert D’Anjou, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts. “We’re able to date the onset of human settlement in the area and also look at agricultural practices and settlement history alongside the changing environment.”
The report was published today (Nov. 26) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Poop through the years
Archaeologists have used traces of ancient feces to recreate the history of specific archaeological sites: For instance, determining whether a latrine was ever used, D’Anjou told LiveScience. But nobody had used human waste to track the arc of human settlement and its effect on the environment. [Through the Years: A Gallery of the World's Toilets] READMOREHERE
