It's cold in Florida, too, but I'm sure it's all relative. We're getting nighttime lows in the high 30s. That's pretty brisk for here. It should be back to the normal range (75-55) over the next few days, though.
It does mean that I have to turn the heat on and close my windows. That's as sure a sign of winter (beyond the annual migration of Snow Birds) as one could expect.
To the best of my knowledge nowhere in the Southern Hemisphere pre-1500 CE has the population density come anywhere near what it was in large sections of the Northern Hemisphere i.e. coastal Europe and China in a comparable period. That's a statistic independent of land area and has everything to do with the development of agriculture.
Population density? You guys realize how tiny we are compared to the land space available, don't you? And that we've got more land covered by forest in North America now than we did 100 years ago?
You could fit the entire world population within the 48 contiguous United States and still not be particularly crowded. And the humans merely displace other large mammals. I seriously doubt that population density of humans is anything but a minor factor.
Au contraire, Dean. The researches of Linda and Robert Braidwood and their successors have suggested strongly that population pressures, particularly in coastal areas, were one of the critical factors behind the adoption of agriculture. See The Food Crisis in Prehistory: Overpopulation and the Origins of Agriculture.
The dawning of agriculture unquestionably created massive changes in the environment and in human existence.
2.1.2007 6:37am
Commenting on Dean's World is a privilege, not a right. Dean is your host, you are his guest, and you should behave in that fashion. Dean is not your babysitter, nor is he your punching bag. Please remember this. In general, you are free to disagree with anyone on any subject you wish, but abusive behavior will not be tolerated.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.
It does mean that I have to turn the heat on and close my windows. That's as sure a sign of winter (beyond the annual migration of Snow Birds) as one could expect.
You could fit the entire world population within the 48 contiguous United States and still not be particularly crowded. And the humans merely displace other large mammals. I seriously doubt that population density of humans is anything but a minor factor.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.