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The colonization of the Americas killed so many people that the Earth froze when abandoned lands became overgrown and sucked carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
- Dead on farmland left unattended, says University College London
- A region the size of France then became host to kilometers of neglected trees and foliage
- This change reduced the CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere from 7 to 10 ppm.
By
Peter Lloyd for MailOnline
published:
07:30 EST, January 31, 2019
|
Update:
1:23 pm EST, January 31, 2019
The mbadive deaths resulting from American colonization cooled the atmosphere.
Experts believe that the influx of Europeans and the outbreak of the war in the 15th century triggered an environmental change that literally lowered the local temperature.
In fact, parts of agricultural land have been abandoned and invaded by the destruction of tens of millions of indigenous people.
As a result, trees and foliage absorbed increased levels of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, resulting in what is commonly referred to as a "small ice age".
Environmental Change: The arrival of Europeans on the American continent has triggered a "Little Ice Age". Experts believe that the influx of Europeans and the outbreak of war in the 15th century sparked an environmental shift that literally lowered the local temperature (archive photo)
"The great death of the indigenous peoples of the Americas has led to the abandonment of enough cleared land for the terrestrial carbon uptake to have a detectable impact on atmospheric CO₂ temperatures and air pollution. the surface of the planet, "says Alexander Koch, author of the study, from University College London.
His team Population data studied from 1492 to see the impact of conflict and disease.
The colonists and soldiers were carriers of European diseases such as smallpox, measles, typhoid and influenza, which ravaged communities.
As a result of these deaths, land the size of France was then abandoned, lowering the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere from 7 to 10 ppm (7 to 10 molecules of CO₂ per million molecules in the world). ;air).
"To put this in the modern context, we burn mostly (fossil fuels) and produce about 3 ppm a year. So we are talking about a lot of carbon extracted from the atmosphere, "added the co-author, Professor Mark Maslin.
"There is a marked cooling at this time (between 1500 and 1600), called the Little Ice Age. What is interesting is that we can see the natural processes give a little cooling, but in reality, get the complete cooling – double the natural process. process – you must have this drop of CO₂ generated by genocide. & # 39;
Did you know? At least 50 million Americans were killed during the colonization of the Americas. In the photo: a market in the West Indies
Previous research had calculated that in 1610, forests had recovered much of the continent.
Forests absorb more carbon dioxide than crops, and reforestation of agricultural land would have led to a drop in carbon dioxide.
The report was published in Quaterarny Science News.
WHEN WAS THE NATIVE NORTH AND SOUTH DIVIDED?
While the ancient Beringians separated from all other Indians about 20,000 years ago, the groups of North and South diverged thereafter.
According to previous research, this suggests that they must already have been on the American continent south of the ice, when they diverged.
The fracture probably occurred after their ancestors crossed the ice sheets of the Laurentians and the Cordillera.
These are two vast glaciers that covered present-day Canada and parts of the northern United States, but began to melt at that time.
The pack ice isolates travelers from the south of ancient Beringia, Alaska, who are eventually replaced or absorbed by other Native American populations.
Although modern populations in Alaska and northern Canada belong to the North American branch, the new badysis shows that these come from a subsequent return migration north, long after the initial migration events .
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