Time for the obligatory "Humans did not cause Global Warming" slide
Note: Data provided by N.O.A.A
Posted on 09/07/2006 5:24:26 AM PDT by Pharmboy
Severe climate change was the primary driver in the development of civilisation, according to new research by the University of East Anglia.
The early civilisations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, South Asia, China and northern South America were founded between 6000 and 4000 years ago when global climate changes, driven by natural fluctuations in the Earth's orbit, caused a weakening of monsoon systems resulting in increasingly arid conditions. These first large urban, state-level societies emerged because diminishing resources forced previously transient people into close proximity in areas where water, pasture and productive land was still available.
In a presentation to the BA Festival of Science on September 7, Dr. Nick Brooks will challenge existing views of how and why civilisation arose. He will argue that the earliest civilisations developed largely as a by-product of adaptation to climate change and were the products of hostile environments.
"Civilisation did not arise as the result of a benign environment which allowed humanity to indulge a preference for living in complex, urban, 'civilized' societies," said Dr. Brooks.
"On the contrary, what we tend to think of today as 'civilisation' was in large part an accidental by-product of unplanned adaptation to catastrophic climate change. Civilisation was a last resort - a means of organising society and food production and distribution, in the face of deteriorating environmental conditions."
He added that for many, if not most people, the development of civilisation meant a harder life, less freedom, and more inequality. The transition to urban living meant that most people had to work harder in order to survive, and suffered increased exposure to communicable diseases. Health and nutrition are likely to have deteriorated rather than improved for many.
The new research challenges the widely held belief that the development of civilization was simply the result of a transition from harsh, unpredictable climatic conditions during the last ice age, to more benign and stable conditions at the beginning of the Holocene period some 10,000 years ago.
The research also has profound philosophical implications because it challenges deeply held beliefs about human progress, the nature of civilisation and the origins of political and religious systems that have persisted to this day. It suggests that civilisation is not our natural state, but the unintended consequence of adaptation to climatic deterioration - a condition of humanity "in extremis".
Dr. Brooks said: "Having been forced into civilized communities as a last resort, people found themselves faced with increased social inequality, greater violence in the form of organised conflict, and at the mercy of self-appointed elites who used religious authority and political ideology to bolster their position. These models of government are still with us today, and we may understand them better by understanding how civilisation arose by accident as a result of the last great global climatic upheaval."
Interesting hypothesis, eh? Also interesting how they use the "s" and the zed in civilis(z)e within the same article.
Translation: Change can bring beneficial results to a society.
But...but...Al Gore told me changes in Earth's environment are caused by people, not natural fluctuations. How can this be?
Clearly this is undisputed proof that they had SUVs between 6000 and 4000 years ago. I wonder how many miles per gallon that heap of rocks Fred Flintstone drove got. That eco-criminal should have been jailed.
I give it until the fifteenth post.
Interesting Climate Ping
Very funny and well put. Ha.
The Cold Snap That Civilised The World
"A SUDDEN drop in temperatures 5,000 years ago ushered in the modern climate and may have encouraged the development of complex civilisations around the world."
Your mind is like the proverbial steel trap--thanks, blam.
Must have been all those SUV's that the ancient civilizations used to cart their children to their rock throwing games.
Thanks, Paloma.
--while I agree that climate changes, this isn't the cause, IMHO--
>>>The early civilisations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, South Asia, China and northern South America were founded between 6000 and 4000 years ago when global climate changes, DRIVEN BY NATURAL FLUCTUATIONS IN THE EARTH'S ORBIT... >>>
WHAT? You mean that the Earth can actually have climate change and it not be man's fault???
Why, that just goes against everything Al Gore told me. I have been feeling waves of guilt for years now about how my air conditioner is the ruin of the entire planet.
I guess I can go back to aerosol hairspray, eh?
Yup. Happens to me all the time I even find some in the 'breaking news' category. I say the more the merrier. Thanks for posting.
My hypothesis: We domesticated animals starting with sheep and goats. The pastoral lifestyle allowed a population explosion leading to overgrazing. Then seasonal rains swept topsoil into the river valleys on a yearly basis. What could be easier? The floods fertilized and irrigated the valleys. Bugs and weeds were wiped out. Poke a hole in the silt and plant your grain. Voila! Bread, beer, and the easy life. Hence the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, the Indus, China, etc.
meaning:
Ancient global warming rocked cradles of civilisation.
Enviwacos never use term "global warming" applied to the past. Global warming can happen only now and in the future. Global warmings of the past are "climate changes".
Very revealing, temperatures peak, then head down into long glacial periods. Homo sapien developed somewhere between 150000-100000 years ago. From the graph, It looks like man is extending the warm period, a beneficial thing. Could it be Bush is doing something right, and Al Gore is cornering the fur seal coat market.
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