And the industrialization of the process helped tremendously.
I watched Bill Nye brag about the pre-industrial world as a panacea for global warming. He must have missed the class that taught us that slavery was rampant before 1850. That slaves, instead of machines tilled and harvested our agricultural food items. Plus, life was generally tough for non-slaves too.
Nye's a dunce. If the non-industrial muzzie hordes hadn't turned literally each place they've taken over into a desert, we'd all be feeling cooler right now. The only sustainable economy is one based on surplus.