Columbus Blamed For Mini Ice Age

DesScorp writes "Science News reports on a story which blames a centuries long cooling of Europe on the discovery of the new world. Scientists contend that the native depopulation and deforestation had a chilling effect on world-wide climate. 'Trees that filled in this territory pulled billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, diminishing the heat-trapping capacity of the atmosphere and cooling climate, says Richard Nevle, a geochemist at Stanford University.' The story notes that the pandemics in the Americas were possibly an example of human climate manipulation predating the Industrial Revolution, though isotope measurements used during research have much uncertainty, so 'that evidence isn't conclusive.'"

Comments

bull pucky

[bradley13]

This is an article in Science News - once a good publication, now just a political mouthpiece. Anyway, where do they get these "scientists"?

- First, this is all predicated on Europeans moving on a massive scale to the Americas. The author writes "By the end of the 15th century, between 40 million and 80 million people are thought to have been living in the Americas." Given that Columbus sailed in 1492, does anyone seriously believe tens of millions of Europeans moved to the Americas in the next 8 years? Even in the next 100 years? Completely nonsensical numbers.

- Second, there was no significant variation in CO2 at that time. The deviation they point to is ridiculously small on a historical scale - noise.

- Third, they got the direction wrong: if forests were chopped down, they would have been burned and not allowed to regrow - thus increasing CO2, not decreasing it.

Re:Bla Bla Bla

[flyneye]

I agree, what could the world population have been at the time? Probably not enough. Besides with naturally occurring forest fires or Indians accidentally starting forest fires( pine trees burn pretty colors for the bored, long before television, how many stories round the campfire can one listen to?). Who can say what massive CO2 blasts into the atmosphere do? Pretty good bet the sky isn't falling over it tho.