A press release from the Smithsonian Institute draws attention to a study that links climate change, culture and agriculture. Mexico’s Central Balsas Valley is believed to be one of the sites where farmers domesticated maize and squashes. The new data suggest that the climate in the valley became cooler and drier at the end of the most recent ice age. Lakes in the valley formed at around that time and became magnets for human settlements, which contain evidence of maize and squash pollen. Of course, we’re not saying that climate change is always a good thing …