This study aims at understanding human history and the rise and fall of civilizations in relation to climatic and environmental changes. Even the ancient Greeks were aware that the extant climatic conditions influenced human history. However, from the modern viewpoint, their ideas were nothing more than a primitive environmental determinism. The magnificent development of science in recent years enables us to reliably reconstruct the past climate with much higher time resolution, of even one year in some cases. Such recent advances in science have prompted us to re-examine the relationship between climatic changes and human history. This approach is of great relevance because it is now quite possible to foresee our own future which will be inevitably affected by global warming. What happened in history each time a climatic change was encountered - just as we are facing it now? This is the principal problem our project addresses, and we are trying to resolve it through comprehensive and interdisciplinary studies.

代表者	安田　喜憲	国際日本文化研究センター
Organizer	北川　浩之	国際日本文化研究センター
Team Researcher	鹿島　　薫	九州大学理学部
〃	成瀬　敏郎	兵庫教育大学学校教育学部
〃	福澤　仁之	東京都立大学大学院理学研究科
〃	守田　益宗	岡山理科大学自然科学研究所
〃	豊田　和弘	北海道大学大学院地球環境科学研究科
〃	石　　弘之	国際日本文化研究センター
〃	竹村　惠二	国際日本文化研究センター
〃	寺澤　　薫	国際日本文化研究センター
〃	D.P.アグラワル	国際日本文化研究センター
〃	霍　　　巍	国際日本文化研究センター