By Michael Goodwin, Jun. 21, 2015, NYPost.com

As luck would have it, I was about to jump into the pope’s new environmental encyclical when I stumbled on an old story out of Israel. It seems that ­archaeological researchers found plaque on the teeth of people who lived 400,000 years ago.

One researcher told the Times of Israel that the plaque contained soot, indicating that early humans suffered smoke inhalation when they cooked meat inside caves. “As in other cases, progress was associated with environmental damage,” the researcher said.

Too bad Pope Francis didn’t see the story before releasing his severe critique of modern life. The history lesson might have tempered his ­approach.

You can call Francis’ environmental treatise bold, provocative and even visionary. You can call it anything you want — except well ­informed and wise. It is neither.

At a time when blood is flowing like rivers around the globe, when Christians are being persecuted and when genocide and oppression are spreading, the world’s foremost religious figure ventures too far afield and gets lost in the socialist weeds.