Progressive Politics

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They knew. (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 day ago by FlyingSquid@lemmy.world to c/progressivepolitics@lemmy.world

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[–] BlitzoTheOisSilent@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

Alexander von Humboldt, the Father of Ecology/Environmentalism, noted the first "theories" of climate change back around 1800. He was a Prussian naturalist who was one of the most famous naturalists of his time (more things like parks, streets, etc, are named after him than anyone else in the world).

He explored a lot of the world, particularly South and Central America. While he was in Venezuela in 1799, he noted,

During Humboldt’s travels through Venezuela in 1799, he noticed that farmers in the Aragua valley were deforesting the region to grow indigo. As a result, the nearby lake was drying up. Later, in a letter to President Thomas Jefferson dated June 1804, he wrote, “The wants and restless activity of large communities of men gradually despoil the face of the Earth.”

Source

If you want to learn more about him, I highly recommend The Invention of Nature by Alexandria Wulf.