"Man-made climate change may have began in the last two hundred years, but humankind has witnessed many eras of climate instability. The results have not always been pretty: once-mighty civilizations felled by pestilence and glacial melt and drought. But we have one powerful advantage as we face our current crisis: history. The study of ancient climates has advanced tremendously in the past ten years, to the point where we can now reconstruct seasonal...

"The conditions that allowed humans to live on Earth are incredibly fragile. Climate variability has at times created new niches that humans or their ancestors could potentially exploit, and challenges that at times have spurred innovation. But there's a relatively narrow envelope of climate variability within which human civilization remains viable, and our survival depends on conditions remaining within that range. In this book, renowned climate...

"Surviving Ancient Droughts, Plagues, and Natural Disasters will capture readers' attention with historical tales of human triumph and tribulation in the midst of ancient illness and forces of nature. Written with reluctant readers in mind, considerate text, engaging stories, and intriguing sidebars and photographs will help open readers' eyes to the wonders of ancient droughts, plagues, and natural disasters"--