NORTH AMERICA | Around 900 A.D., populations remained high but birth rates began to fluctuate. The mid-1100s saw one of the largest known droughts in the Southwest. The region likely hit its carrying capacity, with continued population growth and limited resources similar to what Thomas Malthus predicted for the industrial world in 1798. From the mid-1000s to 1280 - by which time all the farmers had left - conflicts raged across the northern Southwest but birth rates remained high. They didnt slow down -- birth rates were expanding right up to the depopulation, said Kohler. Why not limit growth? Maybe groups needed to be big to protect their villages and fields. It was a trap, said Kohler. A Malthusian trap but also a violence trap. From 23 million in 1850, the US population grew to 100 million around WW1, to over 300 million today - and is headed for 500 million this century. Will history repeat itself in North America?
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 23:38:42 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015