Prehistoric human impacts on the environment

Common card · No. 391076

For tens of thousands of years, humans have altered their environment in nearly every place they lived. These prehistoric modifications were not as intensive as the impacts seen in the Industrial Age, but affected every continent except Antarctica. In some places, prehistoric cultures degraded the landscape to such an extent that a major reorganization of society was required, for example in Southwest Asia and in the Maya civilization. By 12,000 years ago, more than 90% of Earth's tropical forests and 95% of its temperate forests were inhabited and altered by humans. Hunter-gatherer societies caused the earliest impacts: clearing land, harvesting wood, and setting fires. Controlled burning was used to eliminate dense forests, stimulate fresh growth, and manage game populations. In the First Agricultural Revolution, starting around 11,000 years ago, humans began to cultivate crops, causing environmental impacts to accelerate rapidly. Agriculture led to localized environmental degradation...

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