Here's a breakdown:
Climate Change:
* Rapid warming: The last glacial period ended around 11,700 years ago, leading to significant changes in the environment. Temperatures rose, ice sheets retreated, and the landscape transformed, impacting mammoths' food sources and habitats.
* Loss of grasslands: Mammoths thrived on vast, open grasslands that were well-suited for grazing. Climate change shifted these grasslands to forests, reducing the amount of suitable habitat for mammoths.
* Sea level rise: Rising sea levels flooded coastal areas, further shrinking mammoth habitats and potentially isolating populations.
Human Activity:
* Hunting: Early humans likely hunted mammoths for food and resources. While the impact of this hunting on mammoth populations is debated, it's likely that humans contributed to their decline.
* Competition for resources: Humans expanded their range during the late Pleistocene, competing with mammoths for food and other resources. This competition further strained mammoth populations.
* Disease: Humans might have introduced new diseases to mammoth populations, which could have contributed to their decline.
Other Factors:
* Disease outbreaks: Natural diseases and epidemics could have played a role in decimating mammoth populations.
* Genetic factors: Mammoths were already facing declining genetic diversity, making them more vulnerable to environmental pressures and diseases.
Important Notes:
* Timing: While mammoths went extinct globally around 10,000 years ago, some populations persisted on islands until much later. For example, the Wrangel Island mammoths survived until about 4,000 years ago.
* Regional variation: The extinction of mammoths wasn't a uniform event. Different populations faced different pressures at different times, leading to a complex pattern of extinction across their range.
In conclusion, the extinction of mammoths was likely a multifaceted event driven by a combination of climate change and human activity. The specific balance of these factors varied from region to region, leading to a complex and ongoing debate among scientists.