Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardCross-Text Connections: Relational Synthesis

Text 1
Paleoclimatologist William Ruddiman proposes the 'early Anthropocene' hypothesis, arguing that human-induced global warming began thousands of years ago, not during the Industrial Revolution. He asserts that early agricultural practices, specifically land clearing for farming and wet-rice cultivation in Eurasia, released sufficient carbon dioxide and methane to disrupt natural orbital-scale cooling trends and stabilize global temperatures.

Text 2
Anthropologist Dr. Kathleen Morrison's research focuses on the scale of early agriculture. She contends that while early farmers altered local environments, Ruddiman's model overestimates global agricultural intensity. Morrison's spatial database projects show that vast regions remained forested or sparsely cultivated until much later, suggesting that early human populations lacked the demographic density and technological capacity to alter global greenhouse gas concentrations significantly.

Based on the passages, Dr. Kathleen Morrison (Text 2) would agree with the premise that early agricultural societies modified their local environments, but would reject the claim that these modifications had a significant global climatic impact.

Answer: Answer

Answer

The statement is True.
The statement is true because it accurately represents Morrison's dual stance: she agrees that early agricultural societies modified local environments, but rejects the claim that they had the demographic and technological capacity to affect global greenhouse gas concentrations and climate.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze William Ruddiman's position in Text 1.
Ruddiman argues that early agriculture had a global climatic warming impact through greenhouse gas emissions.
To establish the context of the debate between the two authors.
2
Analyze Dr. Kathleen Morrison's concessions in Text 2.
Morrison agrees that early agricultural societies did modify their environments locally ('altered local environments').
To evaluate the first part of the true/false statement.
3
Analyze Dr. Kathleen Morrison's criticisms in Text 2.
Morrison rejects the idea that these early activities had a global climate impact, citing insufficient population density and technology.
To evaluate the second part of the true/false statement.
4
Synthesize the findings to evaluate the statement.
The statement correctly describes Morrison's nuanced position of local agreement and global disagreement, so the statement is True.
To determine the final answer.

Key Concept

Cross-Text Connections: Relational Synthesis
Estimated Time:2m 0s
Rate this question

Topics

Cross-Text Connections: Relational Synthesis

More questions from this topic