Climatic and human history in Europe and Latin America: An opportunity for comparative study |
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| Authors: | Robert H Claxton Alan D Hecht |
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| Institution: | (1) Dept. of History, West Georgia College, 30117 Carrollton, GA, U.S.A.;(2) Climate Dynamics Research Program, National Science Foundation, 20550 Wash. D.C., U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | Motivated by environmental concerns, a few historians have reaffirmed that history is more than relationships among people; it involves human beings interacting with their environment. Some investigators of European history have given consideration to the effects of climate variations on human history. Preliminary examination of historic documents available for Latin America suggest that a time series of climate variations could also be reconstructed for at least the last 400 years. These preliminary data suggest that the general economic and social crises that prevailed in Europe during the Little Ice Age have parallels in Latin America. Such a concurrence of economic and social trends for these regions seems to reflect the influence of the general adverse climate prevailing during this time. Clearly, an opportunity exists for historians and climatologists to reconstruct the past climate of Latin America and compare these records with other parts of the world to establish the timing, length and magnitude of climate fluctuations over periods of human history. |
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