Climatic changes have always played a role in human history. Often, it resulted from large volcanic eruptions, which caused a decline in temperature with serious impacts on food supply. Slow variations in geological evolution and planetary position played a role too, at (much) longer time scales. All climatic changes and their impacts tended to be [...]
A fragmented, disciplinary approach does not work in sustainability science. A broader perspective transcending disciplinary boundaries is needed. One framework to investigate global change phenomena in such a broader, problem-oriented setting is the syndrome approach, originally proposed by the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU 1994) and later conceptualised and developed at the Potsdam [...]
India since the 16 th century Several historical accounts reinforce the impression that large populations of humans were living close to the environment’s carrying capacity and went through periods of severe food shortages and associated violence and hardship. One such a tale is about India since the 16th century; another one is on Russia in [...]
Nomadic people of the Eurasian steppes have played a significant role in human history. Notable are the records of nomadic invasions in the 4th and 5th century and, later, of the Mongols in the 13th and 14th century. The important role of the horse in warfare and farming is among their contributions, around the interfaces [...]