Under climate stress, human innovation set stage for population surge

Aridification in the central plains of China during the early Bronze Age did not cause population collapse, a result that highlights the importance of social resilience to climate change. Instead of a collapse amid dry conditions, development of agriculture and increasingly complex human social structures set the stage for a dramatic increase in human population around 3,900 to 3,500 years ago.

from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210226121247.htm