AP World History Practice Exam 2026 – The Comprehensive All-in-One Guide to Exam Success!

The warming of the earth at the end of the Ice Age is the factor that most directly facilitated the global spread of agriculture and pastoralism. As the Earth warmed, ice sheets began to melt, leading to rising sea levels and a shift in climate conditions. This created a more stable and warmer environment, allowing for the expansion of plant and animal life.

With the improvement in climate, human communities were able to settle in one place, which made it feasible for them to cultivate crops and domesticate animals. This transition from nomadic lifestyles to settled agricultural practices allowed for the development of farming techniques, social structures, and eventually, more complex societies. The warm climate provided the necessary conditions for crops to grow and for herders to manage livestock effectively, thus fostering the spread of both agriculture and pastoralism across different regions.

While other factors like the movement of people and climatic changes during the Ice Age played roles in human history, it was specifically the warming that enabled sedentism and the agricultural revolution to take root and flourish globally.