1543289308135b

Enjoyment of this book (and its companion, The Litte Ice Age)doesn't reallly doesn't depend on whether you think that global climate change is human-induced or a natural phenomenon. Both books provide an interesting and global overview about what climate change means to human civilizations that are based on specific growing seasons, rainfall amounts, and hungry populations (which includes all of us). Both the Great Warming and the Little Ice Age most probably were caused by that natural climatic swing, but that was little comfort to the millions who died of starvation. My biggest surprise was the fact that the fanitastic European weather during the great warming was mirrored by horrendous droughs and starvation elsewhere. On the downside, when I finished both books, I was left wondering what the author thought we should do with the information and historical perspective he provides. Whatever he recommended would have been attacked by one end of the political/social spectrum or the other. If you liked this book, try "Collapse" by Jerad Diamond. The two books overlap on the fate of the Mayan Civilization.

2023-02-06 12:41