Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of Climate

The impact on climate from 200 years of industrial development is an everyday fact of life, but did humankind's active involvement in climate change really begin with the industrial revolution, as commonly believed? Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum has sparked lively scientific debate since it was first published—arguing that humans have actually been changing the climate for some 8,000 years—as a result of the earlier discovery of agriculture.

The "Ruddiman Hypothesis" will spark i…