Events in the collective environmental memory of humanity
Channel: Jan Oosthoek
Date: 2014-02-27

What are the most important events in the collective environmental memory of humanity? This is the question addressed in this video highlighting 22 events that professional environmental historians regard as turning points in the relationship between humans and the environment. Topics include deforestation, mining and oil extraction, nuclear disaster, bugs, Earth Day, a dust veil event and the invention of agriculture. The events discussed in the video move beyond the confines of human history. The earliest event is the asteroid impact that ended the age of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. At the other end of the timeline the video moves into the future and speculates about a future mega-earthquake in the Tokyo Bay area. In spatial terms, events were scattered over all five continents as well as the entire globe

This video provides an introduction to some of the most prominent events in the interaction between humans and the planetary environment that have shaped history.

The video is based on an article compiled and introduced by Frank Uekötter: "What Should We Remember? A Global Poll Among Environmental Historians", Global Environment, 11 (2013), pp. 184-214.