For most of human history, technology remained simple, and the rate of culture change was slow. From the archaeological record, it appears that around 15,000 ya, influenced in part by climate change (not induced by human activity) and the extinction of many large-bodied prey species, some human groups began to abandon their nomadic hunting and gathering lifestyles and adopt a settled way of life. Moreover, by about 10,000 ya (and probably earlier), some peoples had learned that by keeping domestic animals and growing crops, they had more abundant and reliable food supplies. The domestication of plants and animals is seen as one of the most significant events in human history, one that was eventually to have far- reaching consequences for the entire planet. Human impact on local environments increased dramatically as soon as people began to live in permanent settlements.
Unfortunately humans began to exploit and increasingly depend on nonrenewable resources. Forests can be viewed as renewable resources provided they’re given the opportunity for regrowth. But in many areas forest clearing was virtually complete and was inevitably followed by soil erosion, frequent overgrazing, and over cultivation, which in turn led to further soil erosion (Fig. 17-2). In those areas, trees became a nonrenewable resource, perhaps the first resource to have this distinction.
Destruction of natural resources in the past has also had severe consequences for people living today. In 1990, a typhoon and subsequent flooding killed over 100,000 people in Bangladesh, and the flooding was at least partly due to previous deforestation in parts of the Himalayas of northern India. There is also evidence that deforestation has contributed to continued erosion and flooding in China. And millions of people in Pakistan were affected by flooding in 2010 and 2011 that resulted in part from deforestation and dam construction along tributaries of the Indus River. This flooding affected one-fifth of the country and set back years of infrastructure development.