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> Despite this reliance on fire, they also simply can't handle the powerful wildfires of today Because the California fires of yore would roll through on a reg

> Despite this reliance on fire, they also simply can't handle the powerful wildfires of today Because the California fires of yore would roll through on a regular basis burning the limited fuel on the ground and not getting hot enough to damage the trees. Now, after preventing natural burning for quite a while, there’s plenty of fuel sitting on the forest floor to get hot enough to kill all the trees. No humans needed, lightning strikes are all you need to clear the forest floor every so often and keep the trees happy assuming you let nature take its course. I don’t doubt that humans would clear land by burning but I do doubt that they had enough of an impact to change the entire ecosystem in the limited amount of time they were there.

culi 3y ago
Studies have shown that domesticating grain could be done in as little as 20 years; the Aztecs built floating cities on lakes; people of the Andes turned teosinte into corn and also created potatoes, tomatoes, beans, corn, peanuts, quinoa, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, etc all in probably less than a thousand years. A thousand years ago, a European black bear's diet was 90% meat; that dropped to around 70% in Medieval Europe; and now stands at perhaps less than 10%. In the span of 150 years American bison populations went from 60 million to 500 individuals (note: these are keystone species. Without them the Great Plains wouldn't exist and woodland ecosystems would've overtaken the grasslands). It's estimated that the Amazon rainforest could revert to grasslands in as little as 10 years if the current rate of deforestation continues. Ecosystems and environments change. Quite rapidly sometimes > the California fires of yore would roll through on a regular basis burning the limited fuel on the ground and not getting hot enough to damage the trees Yes that's exactly the point of the cultural burns
pvaldes 3y ago
Rainforests don't burn extensively when they receive lightning strikes. Same as sequoia forests. Humans banned water based ecosystems, and substitute them for fire based ecosystems. The brilliant results had been always the same. Big desert in Sahara, Big desert in Australia and parts of Asia. Brazil has some human made deserts also. Keep committing the same error by inertia, because is what they did in the middle age, and expecting different results is foolish. We need to pause and think twice why we want to send all this CO2 into the air.

culi 3y ago

Studies have shown that domesticating grain could be done in as little as 20 years; the Aztecs built floating cities on lakes; people of the Andes turned teosinte into corn and also created potatoes, tomatoes, beans, corn, peanuts, quinoa, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, etc all in probably less than a thousand years. A thousand years ago, a European black bear's diet was 90% meat; that dropped to around 70% in Medieval Europe; and now stands at perhaps less than 10%. In the span of 150 years American bison populations went from 60 million to 500 individuals (note: these are keystone species. Without them the Great Plains wouldn't exist and woodland ecosystems would've overtaken the grasslands). It's estimated that the Amazon rainforest could revert to grasslands in as little as 10 years if the current rate of deforestation continues. Ecosystems and environments change. Quite rapidly sometimes > the California fires of yore would roll through on a regular basis burning the limited fuel on the ground and not getting hot enough to damage the trees Yes that's exactly the point of the cultural burns

pvaldes 3y ago

Rainforests don't burn extensively when they receive lightning strikes. Same as sequoia forests. Humans banned water based ecosystems, and substitute them for fire based ecosystems. The brilliant results had been always the same. Big desert in Sahara, Big desert in Australia and parts of Asia. Brazil has some human made deserts also. Keep committing the same error by inertia, because is what they did in the middle age, and expecting different results is foolish. We need to pause and think twice why we want to send all this CO2 into the air.