Author(s)

Tomasz Jarosław Szczęsny^*

Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Toruń, Poland.

The article describes a possible impact of demographic explosion during the Neolith on local ecosystems and on the global climate as well as the role of this explosion in aggravating the course of 4.2 ka cooling event. A possible role of human activity in changing the pattern of mid-latitudes westerlies, monsoons and Walker circulation throughout the Holocene is analyzed. It is explained why during the Holocene Climatic Optimum (HCO) monsoons could have been weaker than today, not stronger, as it is commonly stated. It is described how during the HCO the humid Tibetan Plateau could have repelled the Indian monsoon to the west and the East Asian monsoon to the north. The explanation for weaker El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) during HCO is proposed.

Holocene Climatic Optimum, Walker Circulation, Monsoon, Green Sahara Period, 4.2 ka Event

Szczęsny, T. (2016) Was the 4.2 ka Event an Anthropogenic Disaster?. Open Journal of Ecology, 6, 613-631. doi: 10.4236/oje.2016.610058.