Climate Change and Leadership Shaping Civilizations

By Hari D. Sharma

What if our civilization could avoid self-destruction and completely devastating the environment by decoding the secret messages carried by iconic monuments such as the Great Sphinx of Giza, Taj Mahal in India, or Statue of Liberty in New York?

 

This book takes a unique and fresh approach to our history, with a focus on leadership and climate change, and decodes it through some of the iconic monuments and statues of our world. After four decades of traveling and studying different cultures around the world, Dr. Hari D. Sharma uncovered a well-kept secret: these iconic monuments and statues are more than beautiful artifacts. They are keys that help us better understand the impact of climate change and leadership practices on the evolution of human civilization.

 

Climate Change and Leadership Shaping Civilizations will take you on a journey around the world, from the Sphinx of Egypt to the sacred land of Stonehenge; from the serene Taj Mahal in India to the quaint streets of Paris, with its impressive Tour Eiffel, and bustling New York, with its majestic Statue of Liberty. You will also travel back in time to the Ancient Egyptian-Greco-Roman and Indic civilizations and return to the present day, exploring the Renaissance and democratic civilizations.

Packed with examples and illustrations, this book provides an entertaining and unbiased account of our history. It also addresses two of the most burning issues of the modern age: climate change and visionary leadership. It will delight readers passionate about history and travel and will give food for thought and actionable steps to those who are looking for solutions to protect the environment.

Last, but not least, the book is a must-read for current and aspiring leaders who want to make a positive impact on the world with their vision and actions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hari D. Sharma
• Release date: Oct 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201945909

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

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Books are the carriers of civilization....

Barbara Tuchman[1]

Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors....

Carl Sagan[2]

Why did I choose to write a book that relies on human civilizational history as evidenced by statues and monuments? To answer this question, I would like to go back almost 40 years, to when I began travelling to different parts of the world. Being an avid reader of human civilizational history and very interested in learning about different cultures, I collected as much information as I could on the histories and cultures of the lands I visited during my travels, as well as on the cultures of the lands that I could not visit but wanted to visit. A few years ago, while I reviewed my travel notes and photos, what struck me most was that those various statues and monuments, created throughout history, contained a wealth of information on human civilizational history and the roles played by leadership and the climate changes that occurred during those time periods. With this revelation, I decided to conduct further research on this subject and was pleasantly surprised that many statues and monuments revealed human progress throughout history. Therefore, instead of depending solely on numerous ancient historical records, which could be biased towards the winners who recorded those events, I decided to use appropriate information from both historical records and the evidence provided by the statues and monuments themselves.

During the process of studying various statues and monuments, I found a wealth of information based on numerous sources, such as archeologists’ digs and investigations, information obtained from writings, paintings, and carvings on the walls of the monuments, architectural features, construction technology details, types of construction materials used and their mining and transportation techniques, artifacts found in surrounding areas, and tools used during those times. Information on infrastructures, such as roads, canals, and other water control systems, and numerous other evidences, is then analyzed by scientists to evaluate the technological advances made by the societies of those time periods. Some examples of various technologies used by scientists to uncover the advances made during those periods are: evaluating data from deep ice coring and soil coring to interpret past climate changes; ground penetration radar technology to find information buried deep below the ground surface without digging; and radiocarbon dating to provide a timeline of different cultures. Then, with the recent developments in empirical science and technology, evaluation tools, such as laser technology, microbiology, virology, space technology, remote sensing, and other technologies, were utilized to understand past and present civilizations.

Evidence collected using many techniques, some of them mentioned above, could then be evaluated to understand the culture and the way of life of the people living during the time periods when these statues and monuments were created. This book attempts to present the evidence-based roles played by changes in climate and the influence of leadership on humanity’s lives and its history of progress. Put simply, these statues and monuments mutely tell us what humanity has endured throughout the ages. Thus, their telling of the civilizational[3] progress story is the history of humans advancing from primitive stages to the more developed societies like those of the present time. This is expressed by comparing progress in arts, technologies, social organizations, and the conditions of civil liberties as they were 40,000 years ago, at different time periods since then, and finally all the way to present times. Knowing our past through the statues and monuments is like the scenario in the movie Back to the Future – going back to our past to learn about the present and fix the future. Without uttering a word, they reveal to us the ups and downs of past human society advancements; hopefully, we can learn from those episodes and move forward towards our continued progress. If we don’t, they also tell us what is in store for our future, i.e., Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Climate Change and Leadership

Climate change refers to variations in weather conditions (temperature, wind, moisture, precipitation, and pressure) that persist for decades or longer. It is affected primarily by the earth’s surface temperature, which is influenced by the energy balance that varies over time in a manner such that earth warms when incoming solar energy is absorbed by the earth, avoids warming when solar energy is reflected back to space, and cools when this absorbed energy is released back into space. It should be noted that both human and natural factors influence earth’s energy balance. Past records have shown that climate changes have resulted in uneven precipitation across various geographical areas, causing flood conditions in some areas and drought conditions in others. Sometimes, these situations have caused major mass migrations, resulting in human distress.

As I travelled to different parts of the world, I observed and learnt from their geographical features, visited their museums, observed and (in some cases) experienced their cultures, and learnt about the current and ancient communities of various countries in those regions of the world. Among many other aspects, one thing that intrigued me the most was to know about their statues and monuments and how they are related to either advancements or decay over time. The stories these statues and monuments tell us, over and over again, are that the human way of life throughout the ages has been shaped primarily by climate changes and leadership during those time periods. Part 1 provides details on climate change and leadership and gives a few examples of how they have influenced humans. Evidence indicates that, in the past and in recent times, climate changes have caused disasters like floods, storms, droughts, and wild fires, resulting in displacements of millions of people over the ages, which caused major disruptions in human advancements. When wise leadership was able to provide creative solutions to climate change-caused disruptions, human civilization kept progressing (rising). The opposite happened when leadership failed to provide solutions to those challenges.

40,000 Years of Human Civilization

From a civilizational point of view, the past 40,000 years of human civilization can be placed into the following five periods,[4] as presented in Part 2.

1. Prehistoric Time Period Civilization

The prehistoric time period civilization timeline is generally placed between about 3.3 million years ago, when the first stone tools were used, and about 6,000 years ago, when the writing system was developed. Around 40,000 years ago, due to climate change, modern humans replaced the Neanderthals who had dominated most of Europe, which until then was colder and wetter. Around that time period, the climate of the region became warmer and drier, which proved to be unsuitable for the Neanderthals, causing their extinction. They were replaced by modern humans who migrated to the area from the South. These new arrivals were prehistoric hunter-gatherers-cave-dwellers and thrived in this warmer and drier climate. Their civilizational story, in terms of their art, technology, and philosophy[5], was as evidenced by a 40,000-year-old Lion-man statue found in a cave in northern Europe, in present-day Germany. This statue was probably worshipped as a deity and may have been used by the leadership to assemble the membership of the community and to communicate to them the leadership’s planned strategies for their welfare.[6]

2. Ancient Egyptian-Greco-Roman Civilization –

Mother of Western Civilization

As the climate became hot and dry, the nomadic hunter-gatherers-cave-dwellers living around the Nile River area for over 120,000 years began to concentrate along the Nile River Valley. With time, they started experimenting with tool-making methods, growing food, and domesticating animals. This led to their settling in villages, small towns, and cities; eventually, by about 3000 B.C. (about 5,000 years ago), various kingdoms were established, which were then unified into one kingdom by around 2686 B.C. This led to further technological developments and surplus agricultural production resulting in a prosperous, powerful, and resourceful Egypt; all this allowed Ancient Egypt to expand its political boundaries between the time period 2686 B.C. and 653 B.C. This also led to Egypt’s civilizational influences reaching as far north as England and other parts of Europe. Due to climate changes and leadership challenges from 653 B.C. onwards, Ancient Egyptian civilization progress ended when Egypt was conquered by outsiders like the Persians, the Greeks, and others. Ancient Egypt, however, provided building blocks for the Greek and Roman civilizations that succeeded them and, through them, influenced all Western traditions; the current democratic systems owe a lot to this tradition. Archeological studies and other scientific evaluations of the Stonehenge monument in England, the Great Sphinx of Giza, the Great Pyramid of Giza[7] in Egypt, the Theater of Epidaurus in Epidaurus, Greece, and the Flavian Amphitheater in Rome, Italy showcase the story of this Ancient Egypt-Greco-Roman civilization which then continued until the 4th century A.D., when the civilization’s long decay period began eventually leading to the Dark Ages. Part 2 provides further details about this civilization.

3. Indic Civilization – Mother of Eastern Civilization

The Indic Civilization[8] started more than 7,000 years ago and can be divided into three periods: the ancient period (5000 B.C. – 1200 A.D.), the medieval period (around 1200 A.D. – 1800 A.D.), and the Modern period (1950 onwards). Because the ancient period covers a long period of time, it can be further subdivided into the early ancient period (5000 B.C. – 1 A.D.), the middle ancient period (1 A.D. – 600 A.D.), and the late ancient period (600 A.D. – 1200 A.D.). Geographically, this civilization covered most of ancient India and extended to almost all of Southeast Asia and beyond. Most of the Ancient Indic Civilization statues and monuments were destroyed by barbarians. Therefore, the statues, monuments located far from the major barbarian invaders’ reach, and documents related to Indic Civilization in possession of individuals shed light on this ancient civilization. The Angkor Wat monument, built in Cambodia around 1150 A.D., is known for its splendor, technological advancement, architectural balance, and sophistication. It tells the story of the late Ancient Indic Civilization. The Taj Mahal, a beautiful 240-foot-high white marble structure built with technology that enables it to resist earthquake forces, was built in India in 1653 A.D. and represents the medieval Indic Civilization. Part 2 provides further details about the splendor of this civilization and the reasons for its decline, which were both climate change and the leadership’s lack of creativity in handling the challenges it faced.

4. Renaissance Period Civilization

The Renaissance Period was a transition period between the Dark Ages (also called the European Middle Ages) and the start of modernity in Europe. It began in Italy, then spread to other parts of Europe and, eventually, to the entire world. The Renaissance Period is generally associated with 15th and 16th century Europe. However, considering civilization in its true sense (art, technology, and philosophy), it covered a period between the 15th and 18th centuries in Europe and the United States of America. In the old world, like India, China, and the surrounding regions, the Renaissance came much later, between the 18th and 19th century time period. The 17-foot-tall Michelangelo’s David, created in Italy in the 16th century, and the 1,063-foot-tall Eiffel Tower, built in France to commemorate the 18th century French Revolution, represent the Renaissance Period Civilization.

5. Empirical Science and Democratic Period Civilization

This period, starting from about the mid-19th century and continuing to the present time and beyond, can be called the Empirical Science and Democratic Period Civilization. Empirical science is the observation-based empirical truth and democratic is the leadership elected by the citizens for a predetermined time period. During this civilization, evidence exhibits that, overall, the average citizen has better nutrition, better healthcare, and more freedom of action than citizens in previous civilizations. Also, this civilization has more advanced art, technology, and philosophy compared to any previous civilizations. The Statue of Liberty, built in 1886 and located in New York, United States, symbolizes the oldest democracy that overthrew an imperialistic power in 1776, abolished slavery in 1865, and then emerged as a beacon of progressive forward-looking democracy. From the oldest democracy to now, coming to the largest democracy, the Republic of India came into existence in 1950, three years after it overthrew an imperial power. It has proven to be a very successful, progressive, and dynamic democracy, the largest in the world, having a multi-religious, multi-lingual (more than 25 languages), and multi-ethnic population spectrum. The Statue of Unity, the tallest statue in the world, dedicated to the people in 2018, located in Gujrat State in India, symbolizes the leadership that made it all happen.

What Does the Future Hold for Us?

Finally, we recount the trials and tribulations that humanity has had to endure on its path since the start of its 40,000-year journey and the direction it is now headed. Human civilizations during these years have evolved from simple prehistoric times to a complex empirical science and democratic leadership, as evidenced by the statues and monuments created during those time periods. The stories silently narrated by these manifestations show that these civilizations, through time, have been shaped by climate changes and the leaderships of those periods. During this long period of history, humans started by using one construction material, like ivory or stone, and then progressed to using metals like copper, iron, and alloy bronze, and then to plastics, ultimately advancing to many other materials during the current period. For tools, humans started with stone and progressed to developing the sophisticated laser technology-based tools of the present. From a weapon point of view, humans started from stone weapons 40,000 years ago and continued to the current high-technology-based nuclear weapons and others that have been developed. Similarly, considering transportation technology, both on the ground and into outer space, travel has been made faster than ever. Healthcare and food production have made leaps and bounds in terms of progress. The data show that during this long period of time, human civilizations experienced a few roadblocks along the way, but now the current civilizational progress is experiencing a resurgence. These past ups and downs, and now resurgence, are presented with specific examples, such as the progress in world GDP growth figures over time, which is presented in Part 3. Looking at the progress so far, the overall trends indicate that the current Empirical Science and Democratic Period Civilization appears to have a cautiously optimistic future.

One can then pose a question: If we are now observing a