Cargando…
Living in a Dangerous Climate : Climate Change and Human Evolution.
Unique, thought-provoking journey from early humans' evolutionary response to climate change to today's global crisis, for general reader and students.
| Clasificación: | Libro Electrónico |
|---|---|
| Autor principal: | |
| Formato: | Electrónico eBook |
| Idioma: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Cambridge :
Cambridge University Press,
2012.
|
| Temas: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Texto completo |
Tabla de Contenidos:
- Cover; Living in a Dangerous Climate; Title; Copyright; Contents; Figures; Tables; Foreword: Evolution and the Human Condition; Acknowledgments; Preface; Earth's Climate: Impacts on Habitat and Humans; 1 Putting Our Emergent House in Order; Is climate change a natural phenomenon on Earth?; Does climate change cause species extinctions?; When did humans appear on the scene, and what did that scene look like?; How did humans come to be the dominant species on Earth?; Does dominance always prevail?; How is the climate change we are facing now different from past climate change?
- Why do we persist in ignoring the repercussions of our actions?What role does evolution play in our ability to genetically adapt or adjust to climate change?; What does that mean for us today?; A caveat; The Evolution of the Homo Species; 2 The Cradle of Humankind; 3 The Neanderthal Enigma; 4 The End of Homo Diversity; Climate and Human Migration; 5 Climate and Human Migration; Climate during the last glacial cycle; How did a changing climate affect the home of early H. sapiens?; When H. sapiens first emerged, were they just like us?; When and why did H. sapiens migrate out of Africa?
- Why did humans beat a hasty retreat back to Africa?A glacial climate and a volcanic eruption play havoc with Homo species; Another move out of Africa
- where and why?; H. sapiens reach Australia and megafauna go extinct; Why did it take so long for H. sapiens to reach Europe?; 6 Braving the New World; What was the environment of the Americas like during the last ice age?; How and when did people first come to the Americas?; The Clovis first hypothesis; A new hypothesis
- three migrations, not one?; Does the environment play a role in influencing migration routes?
- Other theories for the peopling of the AmericasWhat, if anything, do ancient bones and shells tell us about a coastal migration route?; Were there other possible routes?; Genetic evidence contributes more intrigue; Could early people have migrated in boats?; Cultural contributions and transoceanic connections; Migration
- an option when times were bad; Climate and Agriculture; 7 Agriculture and the Rise of Civilization; Some climatic forces that affect agriculture and civilization; The Milankovic cycles; Ice sheets and greenhouse gases; Sea level and the productivity of the oceans; Volcanoes.
- Domestication of animalsFarmers cultivate plants around the world; A closer look into why agriculture began where it did; Mesopotamia, Africa, and Egypt; The Indus-Saravati region; Conclusion; 8 The Maya Civilization and Beyond; What caused the Maya civilization to flourish and then die?; A closer look at the climate of Mesoamerica and South America; The three C's and what this means; Beyond agriculture; Conclusion; The Dominant Paradigm; 9 Dominance Destabilized; Dominance versus flexibility during climate catastrophe; The agriculturalists dominate during the Holocene; Climate stability ends.