From the department of “correlation is not causation” department comes this weapons-grade-stupid study. Next they’ll be telling us the Catholic church started the Medieval Warm Period with the crusades. Get a load of this statement:
The indirect effects of this demographic impact rippled through the surrounding forests and, perhaps, into our atmosphere.
…
“One argument suggests that indigenous population collapse in the Americas resulted in a reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because of forest regrowth in the early colonial period. Until now the evidence has been fairly ambiguous. Our results indicate that high-resolution chronologies of human populations, forests and fires are needed to evaluate these claims.”
All this from a few thousands of native people. OMFG. The stupid, it burns like magnesium!
Spanish missions triggered Native American population collapse, indirect impact on climate
New evidence shows severe and rapid collapse of Pueblo populations occurred in the 17th century and triggered a cascade of ecological effects that ultimately had consequences for global climates
SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY
New interdisciplinary research in the Southwest United States has resolved long-standing debates on the timing and magnitude of American Indian population collapse in the region.
The severe and rapid collapse of Native American populations in what is now the modern state of New Mexico didn’t happen upon first contact with Spanish in the 1500s, as some scholars thought. Nor was it as gradual as others had contended.
Rather than being triggered by first contact in the 1500s, rapid population loss likely began after Catholic Franciscan missions were built in the midst of native pueblos, resulting in sustained daily interaction with Europeans.
The indirect effects of this demographic impact rippled through the surrounding forests and, perhaps, into our atmosphere.
Those are the conclusions of a new study by a team of scientists looking for the first time at high resolution reconstructions of human population size, tree growth and fire history from the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico.
“Scholars increasingly recognize the magnitude of human impacts on planet Earth, some are even ready to define a new geological epoch called the Anthropocene,” said anthropologist and fire expert Christopher Roos, an associate professor at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, and a co-author on the research.
“But it is an open question as to when that epoch began,” said Roos. “One argument suggests that indigenous population collapse in the Americas resulted in a reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because of forest regrowth in the early colonial period. Until now the evidence has been fairly ambiguous. Our results indicate that high-resolution chronologies of human populations, forests and fires are needed to evaluate these claims.”
A contentious issue in American Indian history, scientists and historians for decades have debated how many Native Americans died and when it occurred. With awareness of global warming and interdisciplinary interest in the possible antiquity of the Anthropocene, resolution of that debate may now be relevant for contemporary human-caused environmental problems, Roos said.
Findings of the new study were published Jan. 25, 2016 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, “Native American Depopulation, Reforestation, and Fire Regimes in the Southwest U.S., 1492-1900 C.E.”
The researchers offer the first absolute population estimate of the archaeology of the Jemez Province — an area west Santa Fe and Los Alamos National Lab in northern New Mexico. Using airborne remote sensing LiDAR technology to establish the size and shape of rubble mounds from collapsed architecture of ancestral villages, the researchers were able to quantify population sizes in the 16th century that were independent of historical documents.
To identify the timing of of the population collapse and its impact on forest fires, the scientists also collected tree-ring data sets from locations adjacent to the Ancestral Jemez villages and throughout the forested mountain range. This sampling framework allowed them to refine the timing of depopulation and the timing of fire regime changes across the Jemez Province.
Their findings indicate that large-scale depopulation only occurred after missions were established in their midst by Franciscan priests in the 1620s. Daily sustained interaction resulted in epidemic diseases, violence and famine, the researchers said. From a population of roughly 6,500 in the 1620s fewer than 900 remained in the 1690s – a loss of more than 85 percent of the population in a few generations.
“The loss of life is staggering,” said anthropologist Matthew Liebmann, an associate professor at Harvard University and lead author on the PNAS article.
“Imagine that in a room with 10 people, only one person was left at the end of the day,” Liebmann said. “This had devastating effects on the social and economic lives of the survivors. Our research suggests that the effects were felt in the ecology of the forests too.”
Other scientists on the team include Josh Farella and Thomas Swetnam, University of Arizona; and Adam Stack and Sarah Martini, Harvard University.
The researchers studied a 100,000-acre area that includes the ancestral pueblo villages of the Jemez (HEY-mehz) people. Located in the Jemez Mountains of north central New Mexico, it’s a region in the Santa Fe National Forest of deep canyons, towering flat-topped mesas, as well as rivers, streams and creeks.
Today about 2,000 Jemez tribal members live at the Pueblo of Jemez.
The authors note in their article that, “Archaeological evidence from the Jemez Province supports the notion that the European colonization of the Americas unleashed forces that ultimately destroyed a staggering number of human lives,” however, they note, it fails to support the notion that sweeping pandemics uniformly depopulated North America.”
“To better understand the role of the indigenous population collapse on ecological and climate changes, we need this kind of high-resolution paired archaeological and paleoecological data,” said Roos. “Until then, a human-caused start to Little Ice Age cooling will remain uncertain. Our results suggest this scenario is plausible, but the nature of European and American Indian relationships, population collapse, and ecological consequences are probably much more complicated and variable than many people had previously understood them to be.”
###
Don’t forget that great eco-warrior Genghis Khan who caused the sequester of 700 million tons of carbon, along with killing 40 million people. http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2011/jan/26/genghis-khan-eco-warrior
Not even wrong. Completely out of fairy land.
..Liberals really don’t like reality, do they !!
No one expects the Spanish Infrigidation.
Lol!
Interesting that they didn’t pick a spot further back… like trying to figure out the Ancient Ones proto-Puebloan periods from ~7000bc on up to Puebloan periods… lotsa things happened in those eras, and it seems there were a number of increases and then collapses of population… huh, sometimes related to droughts. Like “The Great Drought” of the 1100’s to 1300’s?
It is interesting to me that one would look at civilizations only in terms of when the europeans showed up, to decide what was the worst thing to happen to them… instead of looking at the long civilization to see how it responded to various climate changes in the region it was in, and see how those things my be relevant to overall climate. But then narrative, tut-tut… can’t get away from that.
IMHO, only.
Actually, there is a fairly well known article from 2003 which postulates that increased CO2 from human clearing of forests in Eurasia from about 8,000 years ago, and then increased methane emissions from rice paddies starting about 5,000 years ago, warmed the earth enough to forestall slipping into the next ice age. See:
http://courses.washington.edu/holocene/Ruddiman-Holocene_Carbon_Cycle_Anthropocene-ClimChange03.pdf
Here is part of the abstract:
“…A wide array of archeological, cultural, historical and geologic evidence points to viable explanations tied to anthropogenic changes resulting from early agriculture in Eurasia, including the start of forest clearance by 8000 years ago and of rice irrigation by 5000 years ago. In recent millennia, the estimated warming caused by these early gas emissions reached a global-mean value of ∼0.8◦C and roughly 2◦C at high latitudes, large enough to have stopped a glaciation of northeastern Canada predicted by two kinds of climatic models….”
Not saying Ruddiman is correct, that needs confirmation.
“…predicted by two kinds of climatic models….” ? ?
Words fail. So already said more than enough on this nonsense.
it can always get worse.
One wonders if in fact they are deliberately trying to make global warming ridiculous…
Leo,
I have often wondered the same thing. Seriously. In reality I find it difficult to believe there can be so much stupidity in academia. But then it’s there for all to see and read.
This study ignores the millennium of history that preceded the Spanish invasion, which involved numerous changes in environment and population.
The mystery of what happened to the Anasazi cultures occurred around the year 1300, which was also the downfall of the great Mississippi cultures. The best guess is that a time of gentle summer rains gave way to a 300 year drought, when the summer rains, when they happened at all, became rare gully-washer thunderstorms that ruined the irrigation systems.
It is great fun to study all the various theories, as well as the legends of the Pueblo peoples (and the various invaders, who largely came from California.) The ancient Anasazi culture was definitely a culture that went through a great boom, and then a great bust, but the details are largely lost in the mists of time. CO2 had little to do with any of it.
So, Brinkman gets the final word? Appropriate.
If they think such small events as Spanish missionaries spreading disease, etc., altered the climate, then it is clear that the climate has ceased to respond, as our current activities should be producing a astronomically bigger climate change. It makes no sense.
A similar claim has resided in Wikipedia for a number of hears regarding the Little Ice Age. William Connolly used to sit like a troll on the page and prevent even minor, reasonable improvements, nudging it toward reality. I had a few exchanges with him and he threatened to ban me.
Off topic and sad, but definitely tragicomical: The Weather Company President of Product and Technology Cameron Clayton wrote in an email to employees that Wiltgen was a senior digital meteorologist who had been with the company for over 15 years.
Who is Wiltgen? Who is Cameron Clayton?
There’s a lot of discussion upthread with regards to primitive tribes deliberately using controlled burns for various reasons. Was this knowledge taught in their primitive schools?
I could see a controlled burn being used as a weapon to attack a rival tribe. Maybe even drive game to a killing zone. But now in modern times academics have written/rewritten history to suite their particular narrative. I have yet to read that there was a very likely chance that the “controlled burns” would could likely have been started from open pit fires used for cooking and warmth that got away when the wind picked up. It happens quite often in current times even with “Smokey the Bear” education, fire rings, designated camping areas, fire control equipment, banned open air burning laws during dry seasons, etc.
The obvious just doesn’t seem obvious enough.
In Re the Drax power plant in the U.K.:
Wasn’t the switch to burning wood pellets made from trees in the U.S., instead of coal, based upon the rationale that burning trees does not effect atmospheric CO2 level?
SR
Once you believe in the power of CO2, all things are possible…
Is there anything it cannot do?
““To better understand the role of the indigenous population collapse on ecological and climate changes, we need this kind of high-resolution paired archaeological and paleoecological data,” said Roos. “Until then, a human-caused start to Little Ice Age cooling will remain uncertain. Our results suggest this scenario is plausible, but the nature of European and American Indian relationships, population collapse, and ecological consequences are probably much more complicated and variable than many people had previously understood them to be.”
Please Sir, we’d like some more [research grants].
When I was 19 I flew from Adelaide, South Australia, to Oodnadatta, Alice Springs, Tennant Ck and Katherine to Darwin. About the same distance as Mexico to Canada I guess.
In the slow DC3 Dakota, at lower than 10,000 feet in summer, it was bumpy, uncomfortable and took a couple of days. There was ample time to pick out the occasional cattle station building and of course that main road we followed, but there was little sign of habitation. There were patterns showing past burns, some still visible 30 years later. Most probably from lightning.
If you are from an area with dense population, you might have narrow view about the impact of man on the countryside.
If you have done the journey I mention, you will realise that there are vast land areas where mankind has had negligible influence.
If you are proposing global climate change caused by groups like the Anasazi – yes, I have been there – you will realise that any change that man caused there has to be strong enough to make up for the rest of the globe with its oceans and largely unsettled areas elsewhere.
Then, you might have enough intelligence to realise that the publication in question here has zero probability of belief. Memories of bad, ridicule jokes like images of mosquitos raping elephants – that sort of forgettable, cheap laugh category among know-all pre-pubescents.
What a pile of trash prostituting the fine traditions of proper science.
When will we see the brakes applied to the smart ass morons who dispense funding for stuff like this? While elsewhere, people starve and need medicines?
Enough.
Scolling down and adding this relevant figure:
http://www.klimatupplysningen.se/2016/01/27/klimatforkunnare-och-sansade-forskare/#comment-420107
Long drought periods during 1100-1300 AC might affect the population.
The authors of this “study” seem blissfully unaware that the Little Ice Age began circa 1315 and not the 17th Century. And if they are interested in depopulation as a trigger for Climate Change, I suggest they study the life and times of Timur aka Tamerlane. During his lifetime he was responsible for the deaths of 80,000 in Dehli, as well as leaving a body count in the hundreds of thousands as he conquered Persia and East Asia.
Ah, but you’ve fallen for the warmunist “the LIA began at different times all over the world, so not only does it not exist, but if it did, it can’t be considered “global” gambit that seems to contradict the fact that they want us to believe that global climate change is real, even if the climate isn’t changing at the same time.
Or something, I lost my Irrational Whining Posing as Science decoder ring.
This article obviously doesn’t give us the full report but the extracts suggest a little confusion among the authors.
On the one hand they write:
Their findings indicate that large-scale depopulation only occurred after missions were established in their midst by Franciscan priests in the 1620s. Daily sustained interaction resulted in epidemic diseases, violence and famine, the researchers said. From a population of roughly 6,500 in the 1620s fewer than 900 remained in the 1690s – a loss of more than 85 percent of the population in a few generations.
On the other they write:
The authors note in their article that, “Archaeological evidence from the Jemez Province supports the notion that the European colonization of the Americas unleashed forces that ultimately destroyed a staggering number of human lives,” however, they note, it fails to support the notion that sweeping pandemics uniformly depopulated North America.”
They seem a little confused between missionary activity and colonisation. Do they not understand the difference between colonisation and missionary activity or do they think they are one and the same thing?
Many of the Europeans came here from environments where raw sewage ran in the streets. They had developed immunities and carried enough diseases with them that merely breathing upon the then native peoples was deadly. Of course, they did not know this as microbiology was unknown at that time. Nothing to do with climate, religion or killing buffalo. Communism intentionally killed an order of magnituded more with guns and forced starvation in China and the Ukraine in more recent times. The socialist concept’s implementation of policies reducing cheap availability of energy continues this in the poorer countries of the world. All in the name of saving the planet, while control is the real goal of their policies.
“high resolution reconstructions of human population size” = computer models = GIGO
I’m a little confused and perhaps someone someone who understands “climate science” can help me out.This study suggests that the LIA was man made. But didn’t “climate science”, through the genius of Dr Mann prove a long time ago that the LIA and the MWP never existed in the first place?
So, in other words, the spread of Christianity is the answer to global warming.
Something that might be worth further investigation: the enhanced cooling and CO2 reduction at high altitude during the LIA, which would have increased stress on the mountain/plateau populations.
Just to note: The Charles Mann and Jared Diamond books are both very interesting reading, but should be taken as speculative musings loosely based on history.
Pretty much how this paper should be viewed. Almost all speculation. The climate impact is 100% speculation and the population decline timelines are significantly speculation based.
I also love the references to “horrendous” and “staggering” lost of life. Maybe to the particular tribes, but from a historical scale, a few thousand is peanuts. Anyone want to take a crack at the average number of Europeans who died in any single year during the 17th century? Has to be in the tens of thousands, if not hundreds, every year.