An Environmental History of the World: Humankind's Changing Role in the Community of Life"An Environmental History of the World is a concise history, from ancient to modern times, of the interactions between human societies and the other forms of life that inhabit our planet. Throughout their evolutionary history, humans have affected the natural environment, sometimes with a promise of sustainable balance, but also in a destructive manner. This book investigates the ways in which environmental changes, often the result of human actions, have caused historical trends in human societies. This process has happened in every historical period and in every part of the inhabited earth.The eight main chapters follow a chronological path through the history of mankind, in relationship to ecosystems around the world. Each chapter concentrates on a general period in human history which has been characterized by large scale changes in the relationship of human societies to the biosphere and gives three case studies that illustrate the significant patterns occurring at that time. The chapters covering the twentieth century discuss the physical impact of the huge growth in population and technology, and the human responses to these problems. Our moral obligations to nature and how we can achieve a sustainable balance between technology and the environment are also considered. This is an original work that reaches further than other environmental histories. Rather than looking at humans and the environment as separate entities, this book places humans within the community of life. The relationship between environmental thought and actions, and their evolution, is discussed throughout. Little environmental or historical knowledge is assumed from the reader in this introduction to environmental history"--Provided by publisher. |
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Contents
IV | 1 |
V | 4 |
VI | 5 |
VII | 6 |
VIII | 7 |
IX | 12 |
X | 14 |
XI | 19 |
XXVIII | 104 |
XXIX | 109 |
XXX | 113 |
XXXI | 119 |
XXXII | 127 |
XXXIII | 136 |
XXXIV | 141 |
XXXV | 148 |
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agriculture Amazon ancient animals and plants Aswan Bali biodiversity biological biosphere birds Bryansk Cambridge University Press changes Civilization Classic Maya Collapse climate conservation crops culture Darwin deforestation destruction Earth ecological economic ecosys ecosystems effects Egypt Empire environmental history erosion Europe European extinct fish flood Galápagos global Grand Canyon habitat hectares High Dam Hopi human hunting Ibid impacts important Inca increased Indian industrial irrigation islands John killed land landscape living London Madhav Gadgil maize Maya Maya Civilization Mencius million mountains National Forest national park native natural environment Nile organisms percent period pollution population production protected radioactive rainforest region reserves rice river Roman sacred groves Society soil species survival sustainable temples Tikal timber tion trade trees tropical twentieth century UNEP urban Uttara Kannada vegetation village wild wildlife Willamette National Forest wood York