[Geology2] Testing the limits of where humans can live

Too hot, too cold, just right: Testing the limits of where humans can
live EurekAlert [USA], 20-Feb-2011

On an isolated segment of islands in the Pacific Ring of Fire, residents
endure volcanoes, tsunamis, dense fog, steep cliffs and long and chilly
winters. Sounds homey, huh? At least it might be for inhabitants of the
Kuril Islands, an 810-mile archipelago that stretches from Japan to
Russia. The islands, formed by a collision of tectonic plates, are
nearly abandoned today, but anthropologists have learned that thousands
of people have lived there on and off as far back as at least 6000 B.C.,
persevering despite natural disasters. "We want to identify the limits
of adaptability, or how much resilience people have," said Ben Fitzhugh,
associate professor of anthropology at the University of Washington.
"We're looking at the islands as a yardstick of humans' capacity to
colonize and sustain themselves."

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-02/uow-tht020811.php

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