Nature and the History of Nations

This chapter attempts to address a few questions that we encounter whenever we try to study human history. These questions focus on primarily on the most prominent explanations for critical historical junctures. What challenges stimulate societies to adopt one change or to adapt to another? Whether history is made by heroic legends or by ordinary men and women? How does the relationship between the leaders and those they led influence historical outcomes? How does the strength of social solidarity affect historical outcomes? What is the contribution of nature to human history? Do historical events exhibit a certain predictable pattern? Is there an end to history where a final chapter can be agreed upon? The answers to these questions allow us to conclude with the core argument of the book. The argument is that climate change acts as a challenge that stimulates societies to react, that the reaction is undertaken by members of society along with their leaders, and that these recurrent climatic shocks can offer a pattern in history that shows periodic encounters between humans and these climatic fluctuations. Whether the current anthropogenic climate change episode can be considered an end of history scenario is another issue considered as well.