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The Human Footprint: A Global Environmental History, Second Edition, presents a multidisciplinary global history of Earth from its origins to the present day.
- Provides a comprehensive, global, multidisciplinary history of the planet from its earliest origins to the present era
- Draws on the most recent research in geology, climatology, evolutionary biology, archaeology, anthropology, history, demography and the social and physical sciences
- Features the latest research findings on planetary history, human evolution, the green agricultural revolution, climate change, global warming and the nature of world/human history interdependencies
- Offers in-depth analyses of topics relating to human evolution, agriculture, population growth, urbanization, manufacturing, consumption, industrialization, and fossil fuel dependency
Concise table of contents:
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 An Evolving Earth
2 Evolving Humanity
3 Foraging, Cultivating, and Food Production
4 Populating the Earth: Diet, Domestication, and Disease
5 The Making of an Urban World
6 Mining, Making, and Manufacturing
7 Industrial Work
8 Trade and Consumption
9 Fossil Fuels, Wind, Water, Nuclear and Solar Energy
10 A Warming Climate
Epilogue
Notes
Index
Detailed table of contents:
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Nature of World History
The Nature of Big History
The Nature of World Environmental History
Earth History and Human Origins
Mass Migrations and the Rise of Agriculture
Population Growth and the Rise of Cities
Cities and the Rise of Manufacturing and Industry
World Trade and New World Ecology
Fossil Fuels and Climate Change
1 An Evolving Earth
Introduction
The Origins of the Earth and Its Unique Atmosphere: From Hot to Cold Planet
Icehouse Planet/Greenhouse Planet
Plate Tectonics, Super-Continents, and Climate Change
The Warming
The Cooling
The Elevation of the Tibetan Plateau and Its Effect on the Global Climate
The Birth, Death, and Rebirth of the Mediterranean Sea and its Hemispheric Environmental Effects
The Impact of the Isthmus of Panama on Global Climate Change
The Mid-Pliocene, Glacial and Interglacial Cycles, and "Modern" Times
2 Evolving Humanity
Introduction
Climatic Changes and Evolution
Another Effect of the Closing of the Mediterranean Sea
Human Ancestry
The Birth of Human Intelligence
Early Diets and Their Nutritional Value
Translating Human Intelligence into Action
Tectonic Upheavals, Changing Landscapes and Climate
Population Migration and Expansion
Homo neanderthalensis vs. Homo sapiens
The Broad Spectrum – an Economic Revolution
3 Foraging, Cultivating, and Food Production
Introduction
Early Farming and a Warming Climate
Settlement and Domestication
Early Agricultural Communities
Early Agriculture in China
Early Agriculture in Africa
Early Agriculture in Mesoamerica
Early Agriculture in Europe
World Agriculture During the Age of Manufacture and Industry
The First Green Revolution
The Second Green Revolution
Agro-business, Food Prices and Climate Change
4 Populating the Earth: Diet, Domestication, and Disease
Introduction
A Modern Demographic Scenario
The Role of Disease in Calculating Population Size
The Impact of Migration and Settlement on Global Population Growth
The Role of Nutrition in Early Population Growth
The Role of Animal Domestication in the Spread of Infectious Disease
Nutrition, Climate Change, and Population
A Population Bomb or Not?
5 The Making of an Urban World
Introduction
What Does Urban Mean?
Early Urbanization and Its Environmental Effects
Ancient Urbanization
The Origin of Writing
The Impact of Changing Rivers on Environmental Quality
Urbanization in the Indus Valley
China's Early Cities
Ancient Mesoamerican Cities
Early European Cities
6 Mining, Making, and Manufacturing
Introduction
The Age of Copper and Bronze
The Effects of Ancient Mining on Human Health and the Environment
Mining in the Roman World
The Age of Iron
Iron Making in China and India
Iron Making in pre-Modern Europe
Manufacturing in West Africa 1350-1800
Manufacturing in Colonial America
Manufacturing in the Modern World
7 Industrial Work
Introduction
China and India’s Economy
European Hegemony and British Industrialization
Economic Developments in China, Japan, and India
Harnessing the Power of Water
Disease, Death and a Public Health Response
The Power of Steam
The Role of Invention and Innovation
Comparing Industrialization in the United States and in Britain
Coal, Iron, and Steel
Industrial Transformation and Global Auto Mobility
8 Trade and Consumption
Introduction
Global Trading Networks
Distancing Consumers from Producers
Material Goods
Luxury Foods Become Commodities
Tobacco
Sugar
Coffee and Tea
Environmental Effects of Increased Cultivation of Coffee
Conspicuous Consumption
Global Consumption
The Automobile and Electronics in Emerging Markets
9 Fossil Fuels, Wind, Water, Nuclear and Solar Energy
Introduction
The Eotechnic World: Waterwheels and Windmills
The Paleotechnic World: Energy from Coal
The Neotechnic World: Energy from Oil
The Developing World’s Demands for Energy
The Case for Natural Gas: A Neotechnic Energy Solution
The Case for Nuclear Energy: Another Neotechnic Solution
The Case for Renewable Wind and Solar Power: A Return to the Eotechnic
10 A Warming Climate
Introduction
The Rise and Fall of the Mayan Civilization
The Medieval Warm Period (1000–1300 ce) and Little Ice Age (1300–1850 ce)
Current Global Climate Conditions
The Role of Solar Energy
The Role of the Atlantic Circulation Energy Exchange
The Role of Fossil Fuel Emissions
What Is to Be Done?
Epilogue
Notes
Index
Anthony N. Penna is Professor Emeritus of History, Northeastern University. His books include Nature’s Bounty: Historical and Modern Environmental Perspectives (1999), Remaking Boston: An Environmental History of the City and Its Surroundings (co-editor, 2009), and Natural Disasters in a Global Environment (co-author; Wiley, 2013).
