Human Footprint

Anthony N. Penna is Professor Emeritus of History, Northeastern University. His books include Nature’s Bounty: Historical and Modern Environmental Perspectives (1999), Remaking Boston: An Environmental History of the City and Its Surroundings (co-editor, 2009), and Natural Disasters in a Global Environment (co-author; Wiley, 2013).

• List of Figures xiiiAcknowledgments xviiIntroduction 1The Nature of World History 1The Nature of Big History 2The Nature of World Environmental History 3Earth's History and Human Origins 3Mass Migrations and the Rise of Agriculture 4Population Growth and the Rise of Cities 8Cities and the Rise of Manufacturing and Industry 9World Trade and New World Ecology 10Fossil Fuels and Climate Change 11Notes 121 An Evolving Earth 15Introduction 15The Origins of Earth and Its Unique Atmosphere: From Hot to Cold Planet 16Icehouse Planet and Greenhouse Planet 18Plate Tectonics, Super-continents, and Climate Change 20The Warming 21The Cooling 25The Elevation of the Tibetan Plateau and Its Effect on the Global Climate 26The Birth, Death, and Rebirth of the Mediterranean Sea and Its Hemispheric Environmental Effects 32The Impact of the Isthmus of Panama on Global Climate Change 34The Mid-Pliocene, Glacial and Interglacial Cycles, and "Modern" Times 35Notes 382 Evolving Humanity 41Introduction 41Climatic Changes and Evolution 42Another Effect of the Closing of the Mediterranean Sea 44Human Ancestry 45The Birth of Human Intelligence 46Early Diets and Their Nutritional Value 51Translating Human Intelligence into Action 54Tectonic Upheavals, Landscape Changes, and Climate 55Population Migration and Expansion 56Homo Neanderthalensis vs. Homo Sapiens 58The Broad Spectrum: An Economic Revolution 63Notes 653 Foraging, Cultivating, and Food Production 69Introduction 69Early Farming and a Warming Climate 70Settlement and Domestication 72Early Agricultural Communities 74Early Agriculture in China 77Early Agriculture in Africa 79Early Agriculture in Mesoamerica 80Early Agriculture in Europe 81World Agriculture during the Age of Manufacture and Industry 82The First Green Revolution, 1840–1930 87The Second Green Revolution, 1945– 88Agro-business, Food Prices, and Climate Change 94Notes 954 Populating the Earth: Diet, Domestication, and Disease 99Introduction 99A Modern Demographic Scenario 100The Role of Disease in Calculating Population Size 102The Impact of Migration and Settlement on Global Population Growth 106The Role of Nutrition in Early Population Growth 107The Role of Animal Domestication in the Spread of Infectious Disease 110Nutrition, Climate Change, and Population 113A Population Bomb or Not? 120Notes 1255 The Making of an Urban World 128Introduction 128What Does "Urban" Mean? 134Early Urbanization and Its Environmental Effects 135Ancient Urbanization 137The Origin ofWriting 140The Impact of Changing Rivers on Environmental Quality 143Urbanization in the Indus Valley 145China’s Early Cities 150Ancient Mesoamerican Cities 152Early European Cities 154Notes 1606 Mining, Making, and Manufacturing 163Introduction 163The Age of Copper and Bronze 166The Effects of Ancient Mining on Human Health and the Environment 171Mining in the Roman World 174The Age of Iron 178Iron-Making in China and India 180Iron-Making in Premodern Europe 184Manufacturing in West Africa, 1350–1800 CE 190Manufacturing in Colonial America 192Manufacturing in the Modern World 193Notes 1937 Industrial Work 196Introduction 196The Economies of China and India 196European Hegemony and British Industrialization 198Economic Developments in China, Japan, and India 199Harnessing the Power of Water 203Disease, Death, and a Public Health Response 205The Power of Steam 208The Role of Invention and Innovation 211Comparing Industrialization in the United States and Britain 212Coal, Iron, and Steel 222Industrial Transformation and Global Auto Mobility 228Notes 2318 Trade and Consumption 235Introduction 235Global Trading Networks 236Distancing Consumers from Producers 237Material Goods 240Luxury Foods Become Commodities 244Tobacco 244Sugar 249Coffee and Tea 253Environmental Effects of Increased Cultivation of Coffee 257Conspicuous Consumption 258Global Consumption 260The Automobile and Electronics in Emerging Markets 263The Great Recession, 2008–2013 264Notes 2659 Fossil Fuels and Wind, Water, Nuclear, and Solar Energy 269Introduction 269The Eotechnic World: Waterwheels and Windmills 270The Paleotechnic World: Energy from Coal 280The Neotechnic World: Energy from Oil 286The Developing World's Demands for Energy 298The Case for Natural Gas: A Neotechnic Energy Solution 299Hydraulic Fracturing of Rock, or "Fracking," to Release Natural Gas Deposits 300The Case for Nuclear Energy: Another Neotechnic Solution 302The Case for Renewable Wind and Solar Power: A Return to the Eotechnic 303Notes 30910 A Warming Climate 312Introduction 312The Rise and Fall of the Mayan Civilization 315The Medieval Warm Period (1000–1300 CE) and Little Ice Age (1300–1850 CE) 316Current Global Climate Conditions 319The Role of Solar Energy 322The Role of the Atlantic Circulation Energy Exchange 323The Role of Fossil Fuel Emissions 324What Is to Be Done? 329Notes 333Epilogue 336Notes 342Index 343