Final answer:
The adaptive strategy following climate change 15,000 years ago was the development of agriculture, prompted by shifts in climate patterns and the need for stable food resources. This led to settled agricultural societies instead of nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Changes in environment and food availability also influenced new subsistence strategies and societal structures.
Step-by-step explanation:
The adaptive strategy that resulted from climate change about 15,000 years ago was the development and adoption of agriculture. As the Earth warmed and the last ice age concluded, changes in climate patterns stressed traditional food resources, prompting early humans to start domesticating plants and animals. This shift to agriculture is seen as a response to more stable and warmer climates after the retreat of the glaciers, which created new environments and habitats for various species. It is during this period that innovations such as the domestication of plants for farming began to take shape, initiating the transitions from nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles to settled agricultural societies.
In parallel, the warming climate facilitated the migration and isolation of human populations, as rising sea levels altered landscapes and disconnected land bridges. This droves human groups to adapt to new environments and resource distributions, further influencing their subsistence strategies and societal structures. The reliance on smaller game and a greater variety of plants became more prominent as megafauna numbers declined, and environmental changes offered new opportunities for exploitation of marine resources and other food sources.