historical perspectives on climate change sep 1998

[...]... change phenomena have led some to conclude that climatic change can be predicted and that climate (or at least human impact on the climate) might even be controlled Climate apprehensions—awareness and understanding, fear, and intervention—are all interrelated In every era, scientists have created climate narratives, theories, and reconstructions in conformity with their personal experiences, experimental... changing the climate Climate—from the Greek term klima, meaning slope or inclination—was originally thought to depend only on the height of the Sun above the horizon, a function of the latitude A second tradition, traceable to Aristotle, linked the quality of the air (and thus the climate) to the vapors and exhalations of a country The Hippocratic tradition further linked climate to health and national character... following conclusions regarding climate change, culture, and cultivation: 1 Cultures are determined or at least strongly shaped by climate 2 The climate of Europe had moderated since ancient times 3 The change was caused by the gradual clearing of the forests and by cultivation 4 The American climate was undergoing rapid and dramatic changes caused by settlement 5 The amelioration of the American climate. .. works on climate reconstruction and climate history I am interested in the history of climate change theories and ideas, that is, how global change can be studied as a subset of the history of science and technology The history of global environmental change draws in part on the histories of particular sciences such as astronomy, chemistry, computer science, geography, geology, meteorology, paleontology,... Atmosphere 83 The Climatic Determinism of Ellsworth Huntington 95 Global Warming? The Early Twentieth Century 107 Global Cooling, Global Warming: Historical Dimensions 129 Notes 139 Bibliography 167 Index 190 This page intentionally left blank Historical Perspectives on Climate Change This page intentionally left blank Introduction Apprehending Climate Change This most excellent canopy, the air, look you,... theory on latitudes [die Himmelsstriche] while Du Bos reckoned according to evaporations of the earth."26 In other words, Montesquieu emphasized geographic location, while Du Bos's argument was based on changes in atmospheric humors, vapors, and exhalations Others influenced Montesquieu, including the English physician and writer John Arbuthnot, who suggested that climate operates on the minds, emotions,... University, Smithsonian Institution, the University of Arizona, and the University of Washington I am extremely grateful for the many helpful comments and suggestions given by my friends and colleagues These include Leo Marx, Jill Ker Conway, Kenneth Keniston, and the many participants in the MIT faculty workshops on "Humanistic Perspectives on Atmospheric Change" and "The Humanities and the Environment" that... included cosmic physics Among his many discoveries, Tyndall was able to demonstrate that atmospheric trace gases might have significant radiative effects on weather and climate Arrhenius's quest for an explanation of the onset of ice ages and interglacial periods led him to construct a crude model in which variations of atmospheric CO2 concentration had a significant effect on the heat budget and surface... planet) or to experiment on it directly (as a chemist might view a reaction), how did scientific understanding of it emerge? What are the historical relationships among the numerous and quite varied theories of and ideas about climatic change? In addition to their scientific bases, how were they related to more general popular perceptions and (mental) apprehensions of the environment? One approach, popular... Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond D'Alembert defined "climat" geographically, as a "portion or zone of the surface of the Earth, enclosed within two circles parallel to the equator," in which the longest day of the year differs in length on its northern and southern boundaries by some quantity of time, for example one-half hour The article goes on to mention Montesquieu's position on "1'influence du climat . alt="" on Climate Change Historical Perspectives This page intentionally left blank HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON CLIMATE CHANGE James Rodger Fleming New York Oxford Oxford University Press 1998 Oxford . families The one constant certainty in the world is change. —I Ching. This page intentionally left blank Preface This book provides historical perspectives on climate and climatic changes . Jason. This page intentionally left blank Contents Introduction: Apprehending Climate Change 3 1 Climate and Culture in Enlightenment Thought 11 2 The Great Climate Debate in Colonial