Onset of extensive human fire use 50,000 y ago
Abstract
Fire is a pivotal aspect of human involvement in the carbon cycle. However, the precise timing of the large-scale human fire use remains uncertain. Here, we report a pyrogenic carbon record of East Asian fire history over the past 300,000 y from the East China Sea. This record suggests a rapid increase in fire activity since approximately 50,000 y ago, indicating a decoupling from the monsoon climate, and this pattern is consistent with fire histories in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Papua New Guinea-Australia regions. By integrating extensive archaeological data, we propose that the intensified global expansion of modern human and population growth, coupled with the rising demand for fire use during cold glacial periods, resulted in a significant increase in fire utilization from 50,000 y onward. This suggests that a measurable human imprint on the carbon cycle via fire likely predates the Last Glacial Maximum.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (16)
Shoushu Jiang
Key Laboratory of Ocean Observation and Forecasting, Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Environment, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Debo Zhao
Key Laboratory of Ocean Observation and Forecasting, Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Environment, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr
Department of Earth Sciences, Institute of Geological Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin
Luc Beaufort
Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, CEREGE
Hua Tu
State Key Laboratory of Structural Chemistry, Fujian Science & Technology Innovation Laboratory for Optoelectronic Information of China
Zhengyao Lu
Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University
Zhongjing Cheng
State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University
Shanjia Zhang
College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University
Yi Zhong
Xiudong Hao
Key Laboratory of Environment Change and Resource Use in Beibu Gulf, Nanning Normal University
Wenqiang Pei
School of Geographical Sciences, China West Normal University
Guangqiang Cui
Oceanographic Data Center, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yifei Yang
Key Laboratory of Ocean Observation and Forecasting, Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Environment, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Anni Lin
Key Laboratory of Ocean Observation and Forecasting, Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Environment, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jie Huang
Department of Chemistry
Shiming Wan
State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences