In the second part of a three-part series on global warming, Elizabeth Kolbert looks at the impact of climate change on sophisticated cultures in the past.
"The climate shifts that affected past cultures predate industrialization by hundreds [or thousands] of years. They reflect the climate systems innate variability and were caused by forces that, at this point, can only be guessed at. By contrast, the climate shifts predicted for the coming century are attributable to forces that are now well known. Exactly how big these shifts will be is a matter of both intense scientific interest and the greatest possible historical significance. In this context, the discovery that large and sophisticated cultures have already been undone by climate change presents what can only be called an uncomfortable precedent."
Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan
FULL STORY: THE CLIMATE OF MAN—II
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