Glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica have been melting in recent years, and scientists estimate that at this rate, Miami and New Orleans in the United States will disappear by the end of the century. In fact, sea levels have risen for thousands of years, and the inundation of human settlements by seawater has occurred throughout history.
A study published in the Geographical Review that found evidence of human migration routes from about 26,500 to 19,000 to 20,000 years ago— the last glacial period, touched on a hot topic of debate among scientists: when Asians migrated to North America.
The study says sea levels are now about 410 feet higher than they were 20,000 years ago, and the land lost by inundation is roughly equivalent to that of an entire South America.
The researchers looked at 9 narrow straits around the world. The data seen in the Bering Strait between Asia and Alaska led the researchers to speculate about a whole new theory — that people at the time probably underwent a migration from Siberia to the Americas.
The study found a number of previously unknown islands, which the researchers believe served as springboards for the gradual eastward migration of The inhabitants of Asia at the time.
Lead researcher Jerry Dobson of the University of Kansas said: "There are only a few islands in the Bering Strait today, but there were many during the last ice age. They appeared at least thirty thousand years ago, while Siberia was inhabited thirty or forty thousand years ago. The islands formed from west to east, and then submerged one by one from west to east, leading the inhabitants of the islands all the way to Alaska. Some of the original islands appeared close to Asia, which may attract some people to leave Asia to live on the island. As new islands emerged to the east, people moved all the way east. Eventually, even the newest island was submerged by the sea, forcing people ashore to reach the North American landmass. ”