The Long Summer
How Climate Changed Civilization
Book - 2004
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The violence seems to have peaked before A.D. 1150. Then it subsided dramatically. For reasons as yet only partially understood, the Chumash moved away from violence and created an entirely new society. They seem to have grown suddenly wiser - a bold statement to be sure, but it appears to be no exaggeration. Faced with escalating violence, persistent hunger, and perhaps even local population crashes, their leaders seem to have realized that they were all in the same situation, that survival depended not on competition but on enhanced interdependence. {..} When the unpredictably drought-prone world of 300 B.C. to A.D. 850 was replaced by permanent drought, all the Chumash leaders could do to adjust was collaborate closely with one another. It no longer made sense to fight over resources nobody possessed.
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Add a CommentA good look at the various ice ages and warm periods that engendered mankind's development. The "long summer" refers to the unusually long warm period of the last 10,000 years.
Beware: there are 2 editions of the book at this library - the original 2004 hardcover ("25 cm"), and a harder to read 2005 paperback ("21 cm") that basically just seems to be a photographic shrinking of the first (both are 284 pages exactly).
We have the knowledge and the technology to be able to fit everyone in the lifeboat, without greatly inconveniencing ourselves. I'd like to know more about the approach of the Chumash people (see quote). Let's learn and work together.