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The great warming : climate change and the rise and fall of civilizations / Brian Fagan.

By: Fagan, Brian MMaterial type: TextTextPublication details: New York : Bloomsbury Press : Distributed to the trade by Macmillan, 2008. Edition: 1st U.S. edDescription: xvii, 282 p. : ill., maps ; 25 cmISBN: 9781596913929 (alk. paper); 1596913924 (alk. paper)Subject(s): Geschichte 1000-1500 | To 1500 | Geschichte 1000-1500 | Global warming -- History -- To 1500 | Human beings -- Effect of climate on | Climatic changes -- Social aspects | Global Warming -- history | History, 15th Century | HumansGenre/Form: HistoryDDC classification: 904/.5 LOC classification: QC981.8.G56 | F34 2008
Contents:
A time of warming -- "The mantle of the poor" -- The flail of God -- The golden trade of the Moors -- Inuit and Qadlunaat -- The megadrought epoch -- Acorns and pueblos -- Lords of the water mountains -- The lords of Chimor -- Bucking the trades -- The flying fish ocean -- China's sorrow -- The silent elephant.
Summary: From the 10th to the 15th centuries the earth experienced a rise in surface temperature that changed climate worldwide--a preview of today's global warming. In some areas, including Western Europe, longer summers brought bountiful harvests and population growth that led to cultural flowering. In the Arctic, Inuit and Norse sailors made cultural connections across thousands of miles as they traded precious iron goods. Polynesian sailors, riding new wind patterns, were able to settle the remotest islands on earth. But in many parts of the world, the warm centuries brought drought and famine. Elaborate societies in western and Central America collapsed, and the vast building complexes of Chaco Canyon and the Mayan Yucatan were left empty. Anthropologist and historian Brian Fagan reveals how subtle changes in the environment had far-reaching effects on human life, in a narrative that sweeps from the Arctic ice cap to the Sahara to the Indian Ocean.--From publisher description.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode
Books Books The BIAA David H. French Library
Shelf 27 - Main Room 		B3a FAGAN 28180 Not for loan BOOKS*000000021171

Includes bibliographical references (p. [245]-262) and index.

A time of warming -- "The mantle of the poor" -- The flail of God -- The golden trade of the Moors -- Inuit and Qadlunaat -- The megadrought epoch -- Acorns and pueblos -- Lords of the water mountains -- The lords of Chimor -- Bucking the trades -- The flying fish ocean -- China's sorrow -- The silent elephant.

From the 10th to the 15th centuries the earth experienced a rise in surface temperature that changed climate worldwide--a preview of today's global warming. In some areas, including Western Europe, longer summers brought bountiful harvests and population growth that led to cultural flowering. In the Arctic, Inuit and Norse sailors made cultural connections across thousands of miles as they traded precious iron goods. Polynesian sailors, riding new wind patterns, were able to settle the remotest islands on earth. But in many parts of the world, the warm centuries brought drought and famine. Elaborate societies in western and Central America collapsed, and the vast building complexes of Chaco Canyon and the Mayan Yucatan were left empty. Anthropologist and historian Brian Fagan reveals how subtle changes in the environment had far-reaching effects on human life, in a narrative that sweeps from the Arctic ice cap to the Sahara to the Indian Ocean.--From publisher description.