Mechanising migration: Transnational relationships, business structure and diffusing steam on the Atlantic

The diffusion of steam into the transatlantic migration system of the nineteenth century, one of the most important developments in the history of human demography, is often explained by the technical progress of ships, which made the carrying of migrants under steam profitable. Existing historiography posits that early, basic paddle steamers were sustainable only with government mail contracts, whilst iron screw steamers later facilitated the emergence of a mass migrant trade. Data on steam company formation, durability and accounting for the mid-nineteenth century show that technical thresholds are not sufficient to explain the transfer to steam shipping of migrants. Determining factors were inter-regional relationships connecting engineering and demographic change, and, critically, the abandonment of capitalising novel steam lines. This article demonstrates that steam became usable because of endogenous transfer within well-established sailing services, a pivotal strategy adopted by those connected to centres of both innovation and migration.

Paleoindian Settlement in the Southeastern United States

The authors cite two large research open-access databases developed in recent years, popularly known by their acronyms PIDBA (Paleoindian Database of the Americas) and DINAA (Digital Index of North American Archaeology), for aiding in their study of early human settlements in Southeastern North America. With nearly half a million sites indexed so far, many with complex data records listing hundreds of attributes, DINAA has several orders of magnitude more information than PIDBA. PIDBA, however, encompasses image and attribute data on ca. 30,000 Paleoindian artifacts. Information recorded in both PIDBA and DINAA documents not only the number and distribution of Paleoindian artifacts and components found and recorded to date but also the possible proxy measures of human demography and settlement range, which can be compared with figures from later periods or from different states or regions.

Humanity and the 21 st century’s resource gauntlet: a commentary on Ripple et al.’s article “World scientists’ warning to humanity: a second notice”

A year ago, Ripple et al.’s “Warning to Humanity” was published (Ripple et al. 2017), reigniting debate on the importance of addressing the environmental crisis that humanity will increasingly face in the 21st century. While we fully endorse the pertinence of this initiative, we identify critical gaps which impede the capacity of this call to action in fostering the positive change that humanity needs. With our present manuscript, we provide a complementary assessment to Ripple et al.’s article for addressing the current environmental crisis, as well as some alternative paths forward. We emphasize the importance of considering historical patterns and underlying drivers of the current global socio-ecosystem, particularly in relation to social inequalities, human demography, and food production systems. Without such considerations, several of the steps proposed in the warning might be interpreted as prescriptions from a western-biased vision of our global socio-ecosystem, undermining the fundamental message of this unique initiative for achieving sustainability.

Humanity and the 21st century’s resource gauntlet: a commentary on Ripple et al.’s article “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: a Second Notice”

The 21st century will undeniably represent a major turn in the development of human societies, as Earth’s limiting resources can no longer support the current pace of material consumption (supplemental file S1). In this context, Ripple et al. (2017) identified thirteen critical shifts in our ways of life to reduce humanity’s ecological footprint and achieve sustainable development. While we endorse the pertinence and urgency of this call, we direct attention to critical shortcomings in the proposed solutions, which limit their potential to promote sustainability. Indeed, several prescriptions in Ripple et al. address symptoms rather than root causes, or seem to result from a simplistic consideration of inherently complex processes. We emphasize the importance of accounting for historical patterns and underlying drivers of the global socio-economic system, especially in relation to wealth inequality, human demography, and food production, which need deeper consideration than presently given in the warning and subsequent follow-up articles. Without such considerations, this second warning to humanity can be interpreted as prescriptive suggestions from a narrow, western-biased vision of the global socio-ecosystem, rendering it all but ineffective.

Humanity and the 21st century’s resource gauntlet: a commentary on Ripple et al.’s article “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: a Second Notice”

The 21st century will undeniably represent a major turn in the development of human societies, as Earth’s limiting resources can no longer support the current pace of material consumption (supplemental file S1). In this context, Ripple et al. (2017) identified thirteen critical shifts in our ways of life to reduce humanity’s ecological footprint and achieve sustainable development. While we endorse the pertinence and urgency of this call, we direct attention to critical shortcomings in the proposed solutions, which limit their potential to promote sustainability. Indeed, several prescriptions in Ripple et al. address symptoms rather than root causes, or seem to result from a simplistic consideration of inherently complex processes. We emphasize the importance of accounting for historical patterns and underlying drivers of the global socio-economic system, especially in relation to wealth inequality, human demography, and food production, which need deeper consideration than presently given in the warning and subsequent follow-up articles. Without such considerations, this second warning to humanity can be interpreted as prescriptive suggestions from a narrow, western-biased vision of the global socio-ecosystem, rendering it all but ineffective.

Holocene fluctuations in human population demonstrate repeated links to food production and climate

We consider the long-term relationship between human demography, food production, and Holocene climate via an archaeological radiocarbon date series of unprecedented sampling density and detail. There is striking consistency in the inferred human population dynamics across different regions of Britain and Ireland during the middle and later Holocene. Major cross-regional population downturns in population coincide with episodes of more abrupt change in North Atlantic climate and witness societal responses in food procurement as visible in directly dated plants and animals, often with moves toward hardier cereals, increased pastoralism, and/or gathered resources. For the Neolithic, this evidence questions existing models of wholly endogenous demographic boom–bust. For the wider Holocene, it demonstrates that climate-related disruptions have been quasi-periodic drivers of societal and subsistence change.