CONTENTS List of figures vii Acknowledgments ix 1Introduction: history and ecology 1 Environmental history 4 The community of life 5 Community ecology and history 7 Ecological process 8 2 Primal harmony 12 The Serengeti: kinship of humans with other forms of life 14 Kakadu, Australia: the primal tradition 19 Hopi, Arizona: agriculture in the spirit of the land 22 Conclusion 27 3 The great divorce of culture and nature 30 The Uruk Wall: Gilgamesh and urban origins 33 The Nile Valley: ancient Egypt and sustainability 38 Tikal: the collapse of classic May a culture 42 Conclusion 48 4 Ideas and impacts 52 Athens: mind and, practice 59 Xian: Chinese environmental problems and solutions 67 Rome: environmental reasons for the decline and fall 73 Conclusion 79 5 The Middle Ages 85 Florence and the European scene: the barriers to growth 88 Polynesia: early impacts on island ecosystems 95 Cuzco: conservation in the empire of the Incas. 105 Conclusion 110 6 The transformation of the biosphere 116 Tenochtitlan: the European biotic invasion 120 The Netherlands: Holland against the sea 126 London: city, country and empire in the Industrial Age 133 The Galapagos Islands: Darwin's vision of evolution 141 Conclusion 149 7 Exploitation and conservation 154 The Western Ghats: tradition and change 162 Grand Canyon: preservation or enjoyment'? 168 Aswan: the dams and their effects 175 Conclusion 181 8 Modern environmental problems 187 Bali: a green revolution? 195 Willamette National Forest: now that the big trees are down 200 Bryansk: the aftermath of Chernobyl206 Denver: a sense of place 212 Conclusion 218 9 Present and future 225 Amazon: threats to biodiversity 232 New Orleans: causes of environmental disaster 239 Nairobi and the World: the United Nations Environment Program 246 Global warming: an environmental historical perspective 254 10 A general conclusion -i 269 Suggestions for further reading on world environmental history 273 Index 279