The Ecology of Eden and the Warming

1.) Give examples of James Burke’s hypothesis that the trajectory of human history has been determined by climate. What assumptions of Burke do you agree with and disagree with? Now give examples of James Burke’s hypothesis that the trajectory of human history in the future will be determined by climate changes caused by human behavior. What assumptions of Burke do you agree with and disagree with? What planet management decisions suggested by Burke do you want to help implement and which ones do you think are not even remotely feasible (and why)?

Throughout history, the Earth has been subject to changing weather patterns. James Burke describes his hypothesis that the trajectory of human history has been governed by changes in the Earth’s climate. He also believes that an increase in greenhouse gas concentrations will cause a dramatic change in the climate of the Earth in the future. Thus, from the time of our ancestors’ movement from forests onto grasslands to the energy crisis which we are facing today, these changes have caused drastic alterations to the shape, texture, and climate of the Earth. Human beings have adjusted their lifestyles in order to conform to this change. Burke hypothesizes that these adaptations and advancements have brought about an increase in greenhouse gas emissions which will cause drastic changes in the Earth’s climate up to the year 2050.

According to Burke in his documentary After the Warming, it all started one-million years ago when the Earth began its first drastic change in climate. A drought caused the deterioration of the forests, leaving our earliest ancestors with no choice but to look elsewhere for the resources they needed to survive. For this reason, they moved to the grasslands which surrounded them. This climate change was followed by a shift in the opposite direction from one extreme to the other.

An Ice Age was created by a drastic drop in temperature thought to be caused by the Earth’s relative position to