Updated 3 years ago
1491 – The Atlantic
Before it became the New World, the Western Hemisphere was vastly more populous and sophisticated than has been thought—an altogether more salubrious place to live at the time than, say, Europe. New evidence of both the extent of the population and its agricultural advancement leads to a remarkable conjecture: the Amazon rain forest may be largely a human artifact .
So much great history here, and provocative speculation too.
-America could easily have had a larger population than Europe, with a much better/healthier lifestyle.
-We know the vast herds of buffalo/deer/carrier pigeons etc were due to their keystone predators – the Native Americans – being wiped out. Similar to the fact that humans have bioengineered animals via breeding for millennia, which upsets anti-GMO activists, humans may have done the same thing with land in the Americas, which isn’t too popular with many environmentalists.
-The Amazon rain forest, often called a liquid desert due to its razor-thin topsoil, may have been completely terraformed via the manmade spread of bacterial soil
If you liked Guns Germs and Steel, this is a must-read So much great history here, and provocative speculation too.
-America could easily have had a larger population than Europe, with a much better/healthier lifestyle.
-We know the vast herds of buffalo/deer/carrier pigeons etc were due to their keystone predators – the Native Americans – being wiped out. Similar to the fact that humans have bioengineered animals via breeding for millennia, which upsets anti-GMO activists, humans may have done the same thing with land in the Americas, which isn’t too popular with many environmentalists.
If you liked Guns Germs and Steel, this is a must-read
