ebooks The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations by Brian Fagan in History

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A deeper; more complex; look at the issues of climate changeBy lrtomas23210This book takes the reader on a world-wide look at the impact of a prolonged warming period 1000 years ago and the severe stressors that different areas and civilizations endured during a 300 to 500 year period of significant climate changes. Dr. Fagan has identified prolonged droughts as one of the most severe threats that will be faced by societies both rich and poor. These issues; which include severe famines and epidemics; will lead to population losses in large areas of the world. People who are concerned about global warming and climate change should read this book to gain a broader understanding of all the problems to be faced as a result of climatic shifts that we have only a limited ability to adapt to or to mitigate. I consider this book a necessary reference on these issues.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A very thorough history by a veteran of past climate study.By Sneezy777My rating went up one star after reading Mr. Fagan's concise summation where he easily and simply ties the ages of his study together. I had originally bought this book to try to grasp a tiny fraction of climatology in the past. The book does so much more. By no means a simple read; but very comprehensive and well developed.2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Great for History; Facts- not so much...By SaulGoodmonThe Medieval Warming Period resulted in significant developments for farming yields; which resulted in the development of governmental sophistication (taxation); theology and religion; and farming technology; which allowed for keeping of seeds and more reliable planting through the use of beast-drawn plows. The book makes more than slight inferences that none of this would be possible without the Medieval Warming Period; while downplaying the other factors that allowed European culture to develop and prosper globally.The Great Warming is a fantastic combination between history and science; providing an excellent background for elementary climatologists and readers wanting to further understand how global climate can affect daily life and food sources. While the Medieval Warming Period was beneficial for the European agricultural model; in many other areas of the globe; drought; famine; and failed crop yields resulted in migratory populations. While western history will downplay these impacts because they were mostly on indigent and native populations; it is important to note that the Aztecs; Mayans; and many other North American native populations were greatly impacted (or even eliminated) due to droughts that lasted decades or centuries.Critiquing this book is fairly easy. The drawings and maps are absolutely horrible. It's almost like a post-writing editor threw darts at a wall to decide where to put the maps and drawings rather than the author; because they are literally placed in the middle of paragraphs or thoughts without any (or very little) relevance to the current discussion. The biggest point of critique must be the glaring lack of alternative methods theory. The author gave little or no credit to other developments in society for improvements in the quality of life. In other words; the author credits the improvement in living standards almost entirely on the climate change; while ignoring all the other modern European factors. The church; technology; and government were all developing at the same time; which may or may not have led to these quality of life improvements for the average citizen. The author downplays these other factors and enhances the atmospheric and climate changes to make his point. While this approach is perfectly acceptable in an editorial piece; this book is passed off as “science”; which requires an honest evaluation of all plausible theories. The author performs a great disservice to the reader by failing to address these several shortcomings.I highly recommend this book if you're into history and you want to understand how climate change affected the development of medieval society or at least hear theories on it. If you're really into climate change; this book will be an elementary review and makes inferences that may or may not be correct and require some theatrical license for complete and understanding. Overall; while the author does an exceptional job of bringing climate change and its effect upon society; the inferences leave too much to be readily acceptable and only allow for continued “climate debate” on Fox gnu’s.