The Ecology of Eden" and "the Warming

1.) Give examples of James Burke's hypothesis that the trajectory of human history has been determined by climate. What assumptions of Burke do you agree with and disagree with? Now give examples of James Burke's hypothesis that the trajectory of human history in the future will be determined by climate changes caused by human behavior. What assumptions of Burke do you agree with and disagree with? What planet management decisions suggested by Burke do you want to help implement and which ones do you think are not even remotely feasible (and why)?

Throughout history, the Earth has been subject to changing weather patterns. James Burke describes his hypothesis that the trajectory of human history has been governed by changes in the Earth's climate. He also believes that an increase in greenhouse gas concentrations will cause a dramatic change in the climate of the Earth in the future. Thus, from the time of our ancestors' movement from forests onto grasslands to the energy crisis which we are facing today, these changes have caused drastic alterations to the shape, texture, and climate of the Earth. Human beings have adjusted their lifestyles in order to conform to this change. Burke hypothesizes that these adaptations and advancements have brought about an increase in greenhouse gas emissions which will cause drastic changes in the Earth's climate up to the year 2050.

According to Burke in his documentary After the Warming, it all started one-million years ago when the Earth began its first drastic change in climate. A drought caused the deterioration of the forests, leaving our earliest ancestors with no choice but to look elsewhere for the resources they needed to survive. For this reason, they moved to the grasslands which surrounded them. This climate change was followed by a shift in the opposite direction from one extreme to the other.

An Ice Age was created by a drastic drop in temperature thought to be caused by the Earth's relative position to the sun. The sea level decreased due to the freezing of the polar oceans, and land bridges were revealed between Siberia and Alaska as well as New Guinea and Australia. The people of Siberia and New Guinea used these land bridges to migrate from their homelands to there new, uninhabited regions. Around 15,000 B.C., the temperature rose again, melting the polar ice caps and raising the sea level. These land bridges were flooded by the ocean and the newly Alaskan or Australian people were stuck in their new homes.

The only problem was that temperature did not stop rising. More and more of the polar ice caps melted, and the sea level rose unchecked. This resulted in the creation of many new distinctions in land mass including the creation of the British Isles. James Burke even goes so far as to say that it is possible that this event was retold in the bible as the story of the great flood and Noah's ark. This major increase in temperature also cased a rise in rivers and lakes, making the land extremely fertile. This event brought rise to agriculture. With this increase in agriculture, however, many other human achievements were to come as well. Burke believes that the first writing system was created at this time in order to keep track of the cost of trading goods, services, and livestock. The temperature increased more - human beings developed more.

A shift in the wind patterns of Europe caused another meteorological phenomenon believed to have created the deserts in the Middle East. The winds which normally blew from north of the British Isles to central and western Europe were held up in the center of the continent. These winds were the only source of rain for these western regions. The winds that blew across the Mediterranean were also changing. They bumped up against the alpine mountains of Greece and dumped all of their rain. This event would cause the extreme drought that would create the deserts of the Middle East.

The oncoming shortage of water due to the extremely high temperatures and shift in winds brought about the beginnings of mathematics, surveying, civil engineering, and architecture to develop plumbing systems to get water to regions that had become mostly desert. The need for these sophisticated services also brought about the need for tax collectors, bureaucracy, and the formation of the first calendar to track the flood season. All of these events would signal the onset of the civilized world thanks to changes in the weather creating suitable circumstances for societal evolution.

In 300 B.C., the weather shifted again creating a warm, moist climate for much of the world. This change kept the alpine mountain passes of Italy open year-round enabling the Romans to strike out against their neighbors to expand their empire. This weather pattern also allowed for easier transportation. Now that goods could be readily transported over great distances, trade routes between south eastern Asia and Europe were created. These newly established trade routes would serve other purposes, however. In 500 A.D., the temperature decreased drastically. Freezing droughts in Asia caused many of the barbarian tribes who lived there to invade parts of the Roman Empire in search of suitable land. This move to invasion and removal of many people and their ways of life would be known as the Dark Ages. This decrease in temperature and the resulting freezing drought rendered the plumbing systems useless, as well. Human beings were forced to fight for anything they wanted/needed.

In 1000 A.D., the temperature rose dramatically. Many of the Polar Regions melted again - in particular, Greenland. The melting of the Arctic pack-ice created a passage for the Vikings to move people and livestock to the region. Here, however, there were two major problems that the Vikings would face. The first, was that there was no wood on Greenland. In 1002 A.D., they created routes as far south as New England to get the necessary supplies that they would need. The second was that the temperature was to soon drop again. In 1300 A.D., the pack-ice once again froze in, cutting off any transport to or from Greenland. By 1408 A.D., the entire population of Greenland had been whiped out. This was due, in part, to their inefficiency. Unlike their neighbors, the Eskimos, they did not use the animal inhabitants of the region to their advantage (e.g. seals - skins for clothing, bodies for food).

Personally, I tend to agree with Burke's hypothesis that the history of mankind has been governed and facilitated by changes in the climate of the Earth. There are a few that I disagree with, however. 1,000,000 years ago, if there really was such a deep drought, I believe that our ancestors would have been more likely to remain in the forests where soil moisture and water supplies would have