Projections of our future under climate change paint a picture of extreme weather and acidified oceans, a world many of today’s animals — including humans — may struggle, or fail, to survive.

Projections of our future under climate change paint a picture of extreme weather and acidified oceans, a world many of today’s animals — including humans — may struggle, or fail, to survive.

We begin this discussion of our species' evolution in Africa, near the end of the geological time period known as the Miocene, just before our lineage diverged from that of chimpanzees and bonobos.