The methodology
Researchers analyzed
Antarctic ice, which traps atmospheric gas
and can reveal how much carbon dioxide was in the atmosphere centuries ago.
“The
ice cores showed that there was a larger dip in CO2 (than usual) in 1610, which was
caused by the land and not the oceans,” said Alexander Koch, lead author of the study.
A small shift in temperatures – about a 10th of a degree in the 17th century – led to colder winters, frosty summers and failing harvests, Koch said.
The implications
The implications of the study
go beyond climate science and also contribute to research in geography and history, Maslin said, noting that deaths of indigenous Americans directly contributed to
the success of the European economy.
Natural resources and
food shipped from the New World helped Europe’s population to expand. It also
allowed people to stop farming for sustenance and begin working in other industries
for spare money.
“The really weird thing is, the depopulation of the Americas may have inadvertently allowed the
Europeans to dominate the world,” Maslin said. “It also allowed for the Industrial Revolution and for
Europeans to continue that domination.”