Humans have once settled in areas that are now covered in glaciers.
The Pangaea Earthquake.
The Green House Effect.
Fertile farming land and and a lot of farmers use this land to day mostly for farming and to live on
Smaller scale has less variables and correlations to be based on while a larger scale has a bigger amount of mathematical numbers to be based on
In any particular culture, an idea or way of doing things that is common to the culture is called a cultural norm.