How Humans Adapted to Ice Age's Harsh Climate. One significant outcome of the recent ice age was the development of Homo sapiens. Humans adapted to the harsh climate by developing such tools as the bone needle to sew warm clothing, and used the land bridges to spread to new regions. A warm spell during the Ice Age gave early humans a route out of Africa 20,000 years earlier than thought, say scientists who've uncovered a prehistoric tool kit in Arabia. During this period of climate change, about 130,000 years ago, water travel would have been easier than in more typical Ice Age periods.