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Impact of climate change on agriculture essay
The impact of climate change on our agricultural system
Agricultural Revolution
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The Agricultural Revolution was inevitable in many ways. The warming climate result in animals extinction, which meant that the growing populations of humans needed to figure out another way to feed themselves. However, the warming climate also allowed for the flourishing of grains which were domesticable crops with a huge role in many successful agricultural societies. Humans had accumulated some knowledge of plants and animals from their Paleolithic practices, and this acted as preparation for the Agricultural Revolution and domestication. Additionally, several locations around the world (ex: Mesoamerica, Fertile Crescent, China) experienced separate and independent Agricultural Revolutions at around the same time. This seems to imply that the Agricultural Revolution was inevitable.
The revolution definitely was inevitable if the hunter-gatherer societies kept on killing these animals for food they all would have gone extinct and the societies wouldn't have a food source. Also, human populations on the earth were very small throughout much of humans time on earth. There were plenty of non-agricultural sources to exploit (game,
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The main opinion that many historians believe on why the Agricultural Revolution started so late in the history of humankind, one was because of the last Ice age. During the time of the Ice ages, there was not fertile soil and all the crops were dying, so societies had to find another way to feed themselves. Taylor reminds us that,“Active hunting by Paleolithic hunters, along with climatic changes in some areas brought about the extinction of large mammals on which Paleolithic people depended on for survival” (Taylor). The end of the Ice Age brought more favourable conditions for farming. After it ended huge forests began to grow were previously the ice was. This created more beneficial land for crops to
The growth in land also contributed to overproduction, which was another factor contributing to the farmer's hardships. The expansion of farmland combined with the mechanical advances in agricultural technology greatly increased production in the west.
...s. These lands were “usually in less desirable locations and discouraged any successful transition to agriculture”.24
Part one shows one of the main theme of domestication of animals and plants which depends on the geography. The agricultural revolution started in the Middle East; barley and wheat were the first domesticated crops. The first farmers used common sense and did selective breading. Farming spread out from the Middle East to Eurasia. Only mountainous places did not develop a main food sources according to its location. The topography of the country played a main role in farming over that time up to now. Areas with great topography conferred advantages among others. Animals became second in domesticating by the Mideast. Goats and sheep were the first domesticated animals. Animal domestication improved the human condition. Animals were not only source of food, they were good for farming also in pulling plows. Once again geographically and topographically blessed areas had more advantages than others. Middle East became the most advanced area on Earth, but they lost their position according to the weather. They migrated to to the west and east. People of the new place quickly adopt what was brought by the Middle Easter's, and the civilization of Eurasia was rising. Back to the main theme of part one is that, the great geographical and topographical location of the place which had an access to a different natural resources played main role in getting more
Before the land of what we no class Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, and other countries in the middle east grains, such as wheat and wild barley, could be seen growing in the wild without human hand to cultivate and nurture it (Authors 2007). Over time, humans began to recognize the benefit of the plants and began the first signs of human agriculture. The skill of farming took time and trial and error, but along the way, humans began to settle down to tend to their crops. Though the first crops were nothing more than seed s thrown about without rhyme or reason to the process we know today such as fields having, rows and sorting out the seeds to create a higher yield each harvest (Authors 2007). Because of the trial and error process, agriculture of plants did not take place of a short period but took many, many years to evolve to what we know today as agriculture; the new fa...
The blessing and curse of the Agricultural Revolution is advocated with its augmentation and dissemination. Taking the stipulative definition of “blessing” and “curse” from the original premise, one can only superimpose the layman’s terms of “negative” and “positive”. Upon examination of the two classifications within the Neolithic Period and ancient Mesopotamian civilization one can confirm the premise. Therefore, the agriculture revolution was a blessing and a curse for humanity. Human society began to emerge in the Neolithic Period or the New Stone Age. This new age began around 9,000 B.C.E. by the development of agriculture in the region surrounding the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and what is commonly referred to as “The Fertile Crescent” located in West Asia.1 The very development of agriculture had benefited humans by no longer having to move about in search of wild game and plants. Unencumbered by nomadic life humans found little need to limit family size and possessions and settled in a single location for many years. One negative aspect of this settling is that the population increased so much so that wild food sources were no longer sufficient to support large groups. Forced to survive by any means necessary they discovered using seeds of the most productive plants and clearing weeds enhanced their yield.2 This also lead humans to develop a wider array of tools far superior to the tools previously used in the Paleolithic Period or Old Stone Age. The spread of the Agricultural Revolution in the Neolithic Period also cultivated positive aspects by creating connections with other cultures and societies. Through these connections they exchanged knowledge, goods, and ideas on herding and farming.3 Another major positive aspec...
Some settlements engaged in trade with surrounding hunting peoples, and eventually larger civilizations. This set the stage for new crops in foreign areas. For example, the Huang He River Valley civilization engaged in trade with India and the Middle East. Now crops like rice were thousands of miles away from where they originate. Not only did this stimulate the economy, but it helped spread the idea of agriculture, which only spread the effects of the Neolithic
Agriculture spurred population growth, provided the conditions for building civilizations, which consecutively lead to
The development of the industrialisation is outcome of the advancement of agriculture. Agriculture has played very important role in the development of human civilisation. Nearly 90 percent of the population lived in rural area during the 18th century. These rural families produced most of the food, clothing and other useful commodities. Talking about the advancement of agriculture, no other name comes to mind except of England. It is to be noted that farmers in England were among the most productive farmers of the world. The new methods of farming brought mass production in early 18th century leading to the Agricultural revolution. “In the early eighteenth century, Britain exported wheat, rising from 49,000 quarters in 1700 to a massive peak of 950,000 quarters in 1750” .The whole benefit of the Agricultural revolution was shared among aristocratic landholders. They were the only top authorities, as English throne was already overthrown by aristocratic class in 1688 during the Glorious Revolution. Landholders started enclosure movement to end the traditional rights of land and to gain full control over the benefits from agricult...
As the year approached the seventh century, a warmer climate change allowed for higher elevation of lands to be used (Johnson 3, Mason). New techniques, tools, and more land contributed to more food production and a growing population. Agriculture was an extremely important aspect of medieval life that affected everyone from kings to even landless peasants. In fact, ninety percent of the population worked the land (Singman 75). Agriculture evolved over the centuries, and during the medieval ages, it was revolutionized.
Cipolla calls it the first great economic revolution (Cipolla 18). The development of agriculture leads to the development of communities, city-states, civilizations, and other settlements. The social structure that formed around agriculture brought about the possibility of specialization within a society, since not everyone had to hunt and gather all the time. Instead of living in an ecologically sustainable manner like the hunter/gatherers, people started living in an economic manner (Southwick 128). Specialization enabled the development of social institutions such as religion and government, and agriculture necessitated the development of irrigation.
Agriculture has changed dramatically, especially since the end of World War II. Food and fibre productivity rose due to new technologies, mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization and government policies that favoured maximizing production. These changes allowed fewer farmers with reduced labour demands to produce the majority of the food and fibre.
Farming has been an occupation since 8,500 B.C. On that year in the Fertile Crescent farming first began when people grew plants instead of picking them in the wild. Then nearly 5,000 years later oxen, horses, pigs, and dogs were domesticated. During the middle ages, the nobles divide their land into three fields. The reasoning for this was to plant two and leave one to recover. This was the start of crop rotation which is a big part of farming today. Burning down forest and then moving to another area is a farming technique used by the Mayans called Slash and burn. Mayan farmers also were able to drain swampy areas to farm them buy building canals. In 1701 Jethro Tull invented the seed drill and a horse drawn how that tilled the land. In Denmark they would plant turnips in the previously unplanted field. The turnips help restore the nutrients in the ground thus crop rotation is born. In England people began moving there fields closer to each other for a more efficient way of planting. Later in the 18th century selective breeding was introduce which made bigger, stronger, and more milk producing livestock. In the mid 1800’s a steam plough was invented. By the 1950 tractors, milking machines, and combines were used by almost farmers. The latest f...
Agriculture has been around for about 11,000 years. Around 9.500 BC, the first signs of crops began to show up around the coastlines of the Mediterranean. Emmer and einkorn wheat were the first crops that started to show up in this area, with barley, peas, lentils, chick peas, and flax following shortly. For the most part, everyone was a nomad and just travelled along with where a herd went. This went on until around 7.000 BC, and then the first signs of sowing and harvesting appeared in Mesopotamia. In the first ...
The first people that started to depend on farming for food were in Israel and Jordan in about 80000 B.C.. Farming became popular because people no longer had to rely on just searching for food to get their food. In about 3000 B.C. Countries such as Egypt and Mesopotamia started to develop large scale irrigation systems and oxen drawn plows. In about 500 B.C. the Romans started to realize that the soil needed certain nutrients in order to bare plants. They also realized that if they left the soil for a year with no plants, these important nutrients would replenish. So they started to leave half of a field fallow (unplanted). They then discovered that they could use legumes, or pulses to restore these vital nutrients, such as nitrogen, to the soil and this started the process known as rotating crops. They would plant half the field one year with a legume...