This book, originally published 1915, is a product of the new science of geography. The old geography strove primarily to produce exact maps of the physical features of the earth's surface. The new goes farther. It adds to the physical maps an almost innumerable series showing the distribution of plants, animals, and man and of every phase of the life of these organisms. It does this, not as an end in itself, but for the purpose of comparing the physical and organic maps and thus determining how far vital phenomena depend upon geographic environment. Book jacket.

CIVILIZATION AND CLIMATE by ELLSWORTH HUNTINGTON. Contents include: List of Illustrations vii Preface to First Edition xi Preface to Third Edition xv Author's Bibliography xvii Chapter I. Introduction 1 Chapter II. Race or Place 30 Chapter III. The White Man in the Tropics . . 56 Chapter IV*. The Effect of the Seasons .... 76 Chapter V. The Effect of Humidity and Tempera-Jure 109 Chapter VI. Work and Weather 136 Chapter VII. Health and the Atmosphere . . . 153 Chapter VIII. Mortality, Moisture, and Variability 174 Chapter IX. Health and Weather 194 Chapter X: The Ideal Climate 220 Chapter XI. The Distribution of Civilization . . 240 Chapter XII. Vitality and Education in the United States 275 Chapter XIII. The Conditions of Civilization . . 291 Chapter XIV. The Shifting of Climatic Zones . . 315 Chapter XV. The Pulsatory Hypothesis and Its Critics 335 Chapter XVI. The Shifting Centers of Civilization . 347 Chapter XVII. Aboriginal America and Modern Aus tralia 366 Chapter XVIII. The Climatic Hypothesis of Civiliza tion 387 Appendix 413 Index 433.

This survey of ancient levels of lakes, rivers and sea, and changes in stalagmites and sediments shows an astonishing correlation between climate change and rise and fall of civilizations in the Middle East. Warm periods were characterized by aridization, economic crisis and mass migration. Cold periods brought abundant rain, prosperity and settlement. The authors conclude that climate change was the decisive factor in the origins of the "cradle of civilization".

A fascinating look at how climate has challenged and shaped human history, from the Ice Age to the Medieval era, to the uncertain future.

In recent years, interest in climate change has rapidly increased in the social sciences and yet there is still relatively little published material in the field that seeks to understand the development of climate change as a perceived social problem. This book contributes to filling this gap by theoretically linking the study of the historical development of social perceptions about ‘nature’ and climate change with the figurational sociology of Norbert Elias and the study of moral panics. By focusing sociological theory on climate change, this book situates the issue within the broader context of the development of ecological civilizing processes and comes to conceive of contemporary campaigns surrounding climate change as instances of moral panics/civilizing offensives with both civilizing and decivilizing effects. In the process, the author not only proposes a new approach to moral panics research, but makes a fundamental contribution to the development of figuration sociology and the understanding of how climate change has developed as a social problem, with significant implications regarding how to improve the efficacy of climate change campaigns. This highly innovative study should be of interest to students and researchers working in the fields of sociology, environment and sustainability, media studies and political science.

In this New York Times bestseller, Brian Fagan shows how climate transformed-and sometimes destroyed--human societies during the earth's last global warming phase. From the 10th to 15th centuries the earth experienced a rise in surface temperature that changed climate worldwide-a preview of today's global warming. In some areas, including much of Western Europe, longer summers brought bountiful crops and population growth that led to cultural flowering. In others, drought shook long-established societies, such as the Maya and the Indians of the American Southwest, whose monumental buildings were left deserted as elaborate social structures collapsed. Brian Fagan examines how subtle changes in the environment had far-reaching effects on human life, in a narrative that sweeps from the Arctic ice cap to the Sahara to the Indian Ocean. The lessons of history suggest we may be yet be underestimating the power of climate change to disrupt our lives today.

Are we better prepared than our ancestors were to deal with climate change? Explaining fast-changing science, Linden suggests that man must learn from the past to avoid a coming catastrophe. Illustrations throughout.