Final answer:
Climatic conditions, particularly a shift to a colder and drier climate around 1500 BCE, forced the Inner Asian Steppe inhabitants to transition from agriculture to a nomadic lifestyle, focusing on livestock herding and horseback riding. This also influenced their interactions with neighboring settled societies.
Step-by-step explanation:
Role of Climatic Conditions on the Inner Asian Steppe Lifestyle
The changing climatic conditions played a significant role in shaping the lifestyle of the people of the Inner Asian Steppe. Around 1500 BCE, a shift towards a colder, drier climate made the agrarian way of life unsustainable. Therefore, the correct answer to how climate change affected their lifestyle is c. Forced them to adopt a nomadic lifestyle. As the steppe regions were less conducive to farming due to these changes, communities transitioned to herding livestock such as sheep, camels, goats, and horses, necessitating a more nomadic existence to follow the ever-changing pastures. This nomadic culture inherently required mastery over horseback riding and mobile living arrangements to protect and sustain the herds.
Furthermore, nomadic pastoralism also influenced interactions with neighboring sedentary societies. For instance, the Xiongnu confederation, skilled in mobile warfare and adept at horseback, traded and raided China and Korea, leading to significant historical interactions such as conflicts and diplomacy with the Han dynasty of China.