With a staggering eight billion people currently inhabiting the Earth, the possibility of humans becoming extinct in the near future seems highly improbable, unless we face nuclear annihilation, an AI takeover, or a catastrophic space impact. However, despite our booming population today, there have been at least five instances throughout history when the human race teetered on the brink of extinction, such as the eruption of a supervolcano 70,000 years ago that nearly wiped us out, similar to the fate of the dinosaurs.
But what were the circumstances surrounding these events? And just how close did we come to non-existence? In this article, MailOnline delves into the details.
Our Early Cousins: Homo Erectus and Homo Ergaster Explained
Homo erectus, believed to be the longest-surviving humanoid species, first emerged around 1.9 million years ago in Africa. They were the first early humans to venture beyond the confines of their homeland and spread across the globe. These early pioneers migrated from Africa to Eurasia, reaching as far as Georgia, Sri Lanka, China, and Indonesia. Homo erectus individuals varied in height from just under five feet to over six feet, possessed smaller brains and heavier brows compared to modern humans, and played a crucial role in our evolutionary path. In Africa, Homo erectus is referred to as Homo ergaster.
It took until 1804 for the global population to reach one billion, and in less than two centuries, it soared past eight billion. Rewind back 1.2 million years, and the scenario was far from optimistic. Researchers estimate that during that time, our ancient cousins Homo erectus and Homo ergaster, the entire human population numbered a mere 26,000 individuals. Even worse, the breeding population consisted of only 18,000 individuals who were not yet parents. This means that there were fewer humans at that time than there are gorillas today. Western gorillas, classified as critically endangered, have an estimated population of around 316,000, and there are approximately 5,000 eastern gorillas in the wild.
The cause of this decline in human population remains uncertain, although there is evidence indicating that an extinction event temporarily wiped out early humans from Europe during the same period. A previously unknown ice age drove the European climate to extremes beyond the tolerance of archaic humans, as revealed in a recent study. Ocean sediments dated to 1.1 million years ago show a sudden decrease in temperatures by over 9°F (5°C). Scientists argue that this drastic change would have made survival impossible for our ancestors, who lacked modern heating and warm clothing. This absence of Homo species from the continent persisted for roughly 200,000 years before humans adapted and returned.
A Perilous Challenge: 800,000-900,000 Years Ago
However, the dangers for our species were far from over. Recent research suggests that between 800,000 and 900,000 years ago, another severe cooling period posed a significant threat. The population of our ancestors dropped to a mere 1,280 individuals during this Middle Pleistocene period. This critical “bottleneck” lasted for approximately 117,000 years, endangering the very existence of humanity as we know it today. The decline coincided with climate changes, including long glaciation periods, drop in sea surface temperatures, potential droughts in Africa and Eurasia, and loss of other species that may have served as food sources.
Even more astonishing is the fact that our last common ancestor with Neanderthals and another extinct human species, Denisovans, is believed to have lived during this same period. Professor Giorgio Manzi, one of the senior authors of the research and an anthropologist at Sapienza University of Rome, explains that the fossil record in Africa is remarkably scarce between 900,000 and 600,000 years ago. The same applies to Eurasia, where significant gaps exist. Professor Chris Stringer, the head of human origins at the Natural History Museum in London, describes the survival of our species during this period as “remarkable,” highlighting the vulnerability of a population that size to possible climate events, epidemics, or volcanic eruptions.
A Traumatic Event: 150,000 Years Ago
Around 195,000 years ago, the world underwent another series of transformative changes. Expanding deserts and glaciers caused temperatures to plummet and destroyed habitats, resulting in a cold and arid landscape. For unknown reasons, groups of humans in Africa began to disperse, causing a dramatic decline in our numbers around 150,000 years ago. Africa was primarily the only region inhabited by Homo sapiens, modern humans, until approximately 50,000 years ago. However, the extent of the glacial phase was so threatening that some scientists believe our breeding population dropped to as low as 600 individuals.
Fortunately, those who survived managed to thrive by settling near the sea in what is now South Africa. This region offered abundant plant resources that stored energy below the ground, as well as warmer waters that supported the flourishing of shellfish. These factors provided Homo sapiens with sufficient sustenance to survive and allowed our species to evolve into the humans we are today.
The Threat of Toba: 70,000 Years Ago
While extreme cooling events posed significant challenges for human survival, a different threat emerged over 70,000 years ago that nearly wiped us out. Instead of an ice age, it was a monumental volcanic eruption that posed the gravest danger yet. The Toba super-eruption, the largest in history, unleashed an astonishing 720 cubic miles (3,000 cubic km) of rock and ash into the atmosphere, causing global devastation. This volcanic winter, which persisted for at least a decade, resulted in the extinction of numerous animal and plant species and drastically reduced our population to just a few thousand individuals.
Today, all that remains of the Toba volcano is the colossal Lake Toba, stretching 62 miles (100 kilometers) in length, 19 miles (30 kilometers) in width, and reaching depths of up to 1,657 feet (505 meters). Originally, it was believed that the survivors were confined to parts of Africa; however, recent studies have provided evidence of human survival in India as well. Researchers analyzed a record of rock layers spanning 80,000 years from the Dhaba site in northern India’s Middle Son Valley.
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