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A revolutionary new history that reveals how climate change has dramatically shaped the development—and demise—of civilizations across time Global warming is one of the greatest dangers mankind faces today. Even as temperatures increase, sea levels rise, and natural disasters escalate, our current environmental crisis feels difficult to predict and understand. But climate change and its effects on us are not new. In a bold narrative that spans centuries and continents, Peter Frankopan argues that nature has always played a fundamental role in the writing of history. From the fall of the Moche civilization in South America that came about because of the cyclical pressures of El Niño to volcanic eruptions in Iceland that affected Egypt and helped bring the Ottoman empire to its knees, climate change and its influences have always been with us. Frankopan explains how the Vikings emerged thanks to catastrophic crop failure, why the roots of regime change in eleventh-century Baghdad lay in the collapse of cotton prices resulting from unusual climate patterns, and why the western expansion of the frontiers in North America was directly affected by solar flare activity in the eighteenth century. Again and again, Frankopan shows that when past empires have failed to act sustainably, they have been met with catastrophe. Blending brilliant historical writing and cutting-edge scientific research, The Earth Transformed will radically reframe the way we look at the world and our future. *Includes a downloadable PDF of historic maps and global charts from the book, as well as the written acknowledgements
A revolutionary new history that reveals how climate change has dramatically shaped the development—and demise—of civilizations across time Global warming is one of the greatest dangers mankind faces today. Even as temperatures increase, sea levels rise, and natural disasters escalate, our current environmental crisis feels difficult to predict and understand. But climate change and its effects on us are not new. In a bold narrative that spans centuries and continents, Peter Frankopan argues that nature has always played a fundamental role in the writing of history. From the fall of the Moche civilization in South America that came about because of the cyclical pressures of El Niño to volcanic eruptions in Iceland that affected Egypt and helped bring the Ottoman empire to its knees, climate change and its influences have always been with us. Frankopan explains how the Vikings emerged thanks to catastrophic crop failure, why the roots of regime change in eleventh-century Baghdad lay in the collapse of cotton prices resulting from unusual climate patterns, and why the western expansion of the frontiers in North America was directly affected by solar flare activity in the eighteenth century. Again and again, Frankopan shows that when past empires have failed to act sustainably, they have been met with catastrophe. Blending brilliant historical writing and cutting-edge scientific research, The Earth Transformed will radically reframe the way we look at the world and our future. *Includes a downloadable PDF of historic maps and global charts from the book, as well as the written acknowledgements
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
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1 The World from the Dawn of Time (c.4.5bn–c.7m bc)
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void ...
—Book of Genesis, 1:1
We should all be grateful for dramatic changes to global climate. Were it not for billions of years of intense celestial and solar activity, repeated asteroid strikes, epic volcanic eruptions, extraordinary atmospheric change, spectacular tectonic shifts and constant biotic adaptation, we would not be alive today. Astrophysicists talk of habitable regions around stars that are not too hot and not too cold as being in the ‘goldilocks zone’. The earth is one of many such examples. But conditions have changed constantly and sometimes catastrophically since the creation of our planet around 4.6 billion years ago. For almost all the time that the earth has existed, our species would not and could not have survived. In today’s world, we think of humans as architects of dangerous environmental and climate change; but we are prime beneficiaries of such transformations in the past.
Our role on this planet has been an exceptionally modest one. The first hominins appeared only a few million years ago, and the first anatomically modern humans (including Neanderthals) around 500,000 years ago. What we know of the period since then is patchy, difficult to interpret and often highly speculative. As we get closer to the modern day, archaeology helps us understand more reliably how people lived; but to know what they did, thought and believed we have to wait till the development of full-writing systems around 5,000 years ago. To put that into context, accounts, documents and texts that allow us to reconstruct the past with nuance and detail cover around 0.000001 percent of the world’s past. We are not just fortunate to exist as a species, but in the grand scheme of history we are new and very late arrivals.
Like rude guests who arrive at the last minute, cause havoc and set about destroying the house to which they have been invited, human impact on the natural environment has been substantial and is accelerating to the point that many scientists question the long-term viability of human life. That in itself is not unusual, however. For one thing, our species is not alone in transforming the world around us, for other species of biota—that is to say, flora, fauna and microorganisms—are not passive participants in or simple bystanders to a relationship that exists solely or even primarily between humans and nature. Each is actively involved in processes of change, adaptation and evolution—sometimes with devastating consequences.
This is one reason why some scholars have criticised the idea and the name of the ‘Anthropocene’, which prioritises humans into ‘a distinguished species’ that has claimed the right to identify what is and is not wild, to classify ‘resources’ as ones that can be used—sustainably or otherwise. Such, argue some, is the ‘arrogance that greatly overestimates human contributions while downplaying those of other life forms almost to the point of nonexistence’.
For around half the earth’s existence, there was little or no oxygen in the atmosphere. Our planet was formed through a long period of accretion, or gradual accumulation of layers, followed by a major collision with a Mars-sized impactor—which released enough energy to melt the earth’s mantle and create the earliest atmosphere from the resultant exchange between a magma ocean and vapour that was anoxic, that is to say, lacking in oxygen.
Frankopan (global history, Oxford Univ.; The New Silk Roads) narrates his work examining how climate change has altered human history and how, in turn, people have dramatically contributed to it. As a narrator, Frankopan brings a sense of immediacy and intimacy to his carefully researched and timely work, transporting listeners through a sweeping history of climatic shifts and drawing connections to today's debate about anthropogenic climate change. Frankopan describes many instances where human history was altered by climate: Hitler's unsuccessful Operation Barbarossa, complicated by a brutal Russian winter; volcanic eruptions in the 530s and 540s CE, which ushered in a time of global cooling and political regime change; environmental disasters that brought down South America's Moche civilization in 700 CE. Some communities were able to adapt to changes, but others were decimated by inflexibility. VERDICT This thorough nonfiction title is recommended for those who have found works by Jared Diamond, Clive Ponting, or Brian Fagan to be enlightening. A hefty but significant addition to any library's collection on science, climatology, or history.--David Faucheux
Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Bahrain, Egypt, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen
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With a cultured British accent and detached lecture style, Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History at Oxford University, outlines ways that climate change may have influenced human development and, conversely, the ways human development may have influenced and accelerated climate change. Frankopan cites extensive research demonstrating the reality of climate and environmental change, as well as the natural volatility of the planet--for example, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes--and how it has impacted events ranging from agricultural disasters to disease and political turmoil. He goes on to alert listeners to the dangers of continuing to degrade the environment. Sadly, Frankopan as narrator does not serve his long text well. A plodding cadence and unvaried tonal quality detract from what might otherwise be an engrossing listen. S.G. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
