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The Colonisation of the Americas Lead to the Little Ice Age

American colonisation killed so many people it triggered climate change, study suggests

The arrival of Europeans in the Americas left a trail of death in their wake that also triggered a period of climate change, according to a new theory proposed by British scientists.

A University College London team estimates that 55 million indigenous people died following the conquest of the Americas that began at the end of the 15th century

[...]

Apart from the enormous scale of tragedy, this led to 56 million hectares of land previously set aside for farming being abandoned.

As the land was rapidly reclaimed by trees and vegetation, the plants life sucked such an enormous amount of CO2 from the atmosphere that the Earth cooled.

I remember back in the Late 70's, there was a show called "Connections" made by British science historian James Burke. This was somewhat of a precursor to "Guns, Germs, and Steel" but it essentially made the argument that history and scientific development is more or less governed by a series of butterfly effects.

I suppose that this is one of these butterfly effects. In essence, the drive to colonize the Americas (and the subsequent wars, disease and genocide) killed so many people that forests started to regrow across the Western Hemisphere. As a result, the Medieval Warm Period ended, and the Little Ice Age began. This had far-reaching effects even as far as China. In China, it lead to a lower crop yield, which, coupled with the Ming's decision to introduce paper money as a means of exchange, lead to an economic collapse of the Dynasty.
 

Audie

Veteran Member
American colonisation killed so many people it triggered climate change, study suggests



I remember back in the Late 70's, there was a show called "Connections" made by British science historian James Burke. This was somewhat of a precursor to "Guns, Germs, and Steel" but it essentially made the argument that history and scientific development is more or less governed by a series of butterfly effects.

I suppose that this is one of these butterfly effects. In essence, the drive to colonize the Americas (and the subsequent wars, disease and genocide) killed so many people that forests started to regrow across the Western Hemisphere. As a result, the Medieval Warm Period ended, and the Little Ice Age began. This had far-reaching effects even as far as China. In China, it lead to a lower crop yield, which, coupled with the Ming's decision to introduce paper money as a means of exchange, lead to an economic collapse of the Dynasty.

The collapse of Chinese currency happened repeatedly.

The climate change due to etc sounds pretty silly, to me.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
The collapse of Chinese currency happened repeatedly.
The climate change due to etc sounds pretty silly, to me.
I too am skeptical of this little-ice-age theory.
One problem with it...
We've had bigger ice ages come & go, with far fewer humans on the planet.
This strongly suggests that there is great natural variation, far more so than
is claimed in this theory. There are other problems too.
 
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Woberts

The Perfumed Seneschal
The collapse of Chinese currency happened repeatedly.

The climate change due to etc sounds pretty silly, to me.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking.
Going from history, when the chinse currency collapses it's usually because someone killed the emperor and now there's 6 different Chinas.
 

Audie

Veteran Member
Yeah, that's what I was thinking.
Going from history, when the chinse currency collapses it's usually because someone killed the emperor and now there's 6 different Chinas.

Pretty much. Hence the popularity of silver coins.
 

Audie

Veteran Member
I too am skeptical of this little-ice-age theory.
One problem with it...
We've had bigger ice ages come & go, with far fewer humans on the planet.
This strongly suggests that there is great natural variation, far more so than
is claimed in this theory. There are other problems too.

I've read that cores of lakes / bogs in upper midwestern
American states etc show the vegetation as it changed since the ice retreated.

There have been a lot of fluctuations sin the last 12k yers or so.

Mixed hardwood forest, well above the great lakes,
boreal forest down into Tennessee.

None of which is to say that people are not capable of
and in the process of doing immense harm to the
world ecosystems.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
I've read that cores of lakes / bogs in upper midwestern
American states etc show the vegetation as it changed since the ice retreated.

There have been a lot of fluctuations sin the last 12k yers or so.

Mixed hardwood forest, well above the great lakes,
boreal forest down into Tennessee.

None of which is to say that people are not capable of
and in the process of doing immense harm to the
world ecosystems.
Aye, small pre-industrial (even pre-widespread-agricultural) changes in one
pre-country seem insignificant compared to world wide major climate change.
 

Audie

Veteran Member
Aye, small pre-industrial (even pre-widespread-agricultural) changes in one
pre-country seem insignificant compared to world wide major climate change.

I saw the headline and did not bother to read the
article when it came out.

Sounds absurd on the face of it, and "study suggests"
is what they say about the latest diet pills.

Anyway, I assumed it was just more of the current
thing about WPIB(EM), and all problems trace
back to them as promoted by the WGIC.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
I saw the headline and did not bother to read the
article when it came out.

Sounds absurd on the face of it, and "study suggests"
is what they say about the latest diet pills.

Anyway, I assumed it was just more of the current
thing about WPIB(EM), and all problems trace
back to them as promoted by the WGIC.
Reading it didn't offer much.
If the author applied any rigor, I didn't see it.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Sigh. Must I teach you your own culture???

WPIB(EM)= White People Is Bad. (Especially Men)

WGIC= White Guilt Industrial Complex
I never learned me much culture.
Tis disgusting that there are white folk who feel guilt for
being white, men who feel guilty for being men, & all the
other self hating types out there.
 

Audie

Veteran Member
I never learned me much culture.
Tis disgusting that there are white folk who feel guilt for
being white, men who feel guilty for being men, & all the
other self hating types out there.

Sometimes I hate myself, but not, at least,
for those grim and unnatural crimes against
the planet.
 
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