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They changed global climate by killing people. (Issue #19)

They changed global climate by killing people. (Issue #19)

Welcome to the Anthropocene, circa 1492.

Chris Musei-Sequeira

Jul 8, 2025

This illustration shows a man in the center, holding a sword pointed downward in his right hand and a flag in his left hand. He kneels on a brown patch of ground with his left knee. Several men are to his left and right, with several more men in the background. In the far background are three sailing ships sitting on a teal-blue ocean. DESCRIPTION FROM SOURCE: Español: Cristóbal Colón tomando posesión del Nuevo Mundo English: Columbus taking possession of the new country Deutsch: Christoph Kolumbus ergreift die Neue Welt Русский: Христофор Колумб овладевает Новым Светом Français : Christophe Colomb prenant possession du Nouveau Monde Italiano: Cristoforo Colombo prende possesso del Nuovo Mondo Čeština: Kryštof Kolumbus se zmocnil Nového světa AUTHOR FROM SOURCE: L. Prang & Co., Boston. SOURCE: File:Columbus taking possession.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. (1893). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Columbus_Taking_Possession.jpg. This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930.

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Warning: The following article discusses continent-scale violence against Indigenous peoples.

Did you know that European colonization of “the Americas” killed so many people that the global climate measurably changed?

That’s according to the paper “Earth system impacts of the European arrival and Great Dying in the Americas after 1492,” published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews in March of 2019 by Alexander Koch et al. The article is freely available in full. Its abstract says the following:

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