Megadrought and cultural exchange along the proto-silk road,in the context of debate over human-environment interactions

• 作者: John Dodson
• 来源期刊: 科学通报（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2021,（6）
• 所属期刊栏目: RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
• 页码范围: 524-526
• 页数: 3页
• 语种: 英文

摘要

There is a growing volume of literature on the relationship between climate variability and the fate of cultures.This is partic-ularly important because of the looming threat of human induced climate change and the resilience of societies in managing it.Since human nature has probably changed little over the millennia it is interesting to investigate the past,in order to understand the rela-tionship between humans and their environmental settings,and on how humans adapted to new conditions.Much of the published literature falls into two main camps.There are those that argue that climate change was a significant trigger in the fate of some cultures e.g.[1].Others argue that while climate change may have been a factor,it was social factors that ultimately led to changes.These may have been wars,famine,disease or the collapse of gov-ernment structures e.g.,[2].In reality,individual cultures probably had their fates driven by a combination of factors.