Global temperatures are on track to rise 3-5 degrees by the year 2100 , according to the United Nations Meteorological Organization. That level of climate change is anticipated to negatively impact every aspect of human life — from health to agriculture to the economy . The last time humans had to adapt to the changing environment on a global scale was hundreds of thousands of years ago , when homo erectus lived in Africa. An international team of geologists and anthropologists, among them Dan Deocampo of Georgia State University, has been studying that period in hopes we might learn from our ancient ancestors about surviving climate change.