Peter Bellwood: 바카라사이트 uneasy harmony between mankind and nature

Arguments about Covid-19¡¯s origins are just 바카라사이트 latest example of scientific uncertainty around 바카라사이트 interplay between humankind and nature, according to Canberra archaeologist Peter Bellwood.

Professor Bellwood, who has claimed one of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s top international scientific prizes, said circular debates about humanity¡¯s impacts on 바카라사이트 natural world ¨C and vice-versa ¨C had been applied to human developments and declines?going back millennia. While 바카라사이트re was little doubt about humans¡¯ current effects on 바카라사이트 climate, ¡°causal¡± factors in ancient times were?harder to unravel.

He said that 바카라사이트 ¡°human signature¡± of environmental impact could be traced to prehistoric times, with evidence that land clearance for agriculture and methane emissions from rice cultivation had increased atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations as early?as 8,000 years ago. But teasing such factors apart from?natural climate changes?was ¡°very, very difficult¡±.

Professor Bellwood has secured this year¡¯s International Cosmos Prize, presented by 바카라사이트 Osaka-based Expo ¡¯90 Foundation to celebrate ¡°바카라사이트 harmonious coexistence of nature and mankind¡±.?Previous winners include environmentalist David Attenborough, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and primatologist Jane Goodall.

Professor Bellwood¡¯s ¡°important research achievements¡± have transformed ways of ¡°looking at 바카라사이트 relationship between nature and humans¡±, 바카라사이트 foundation¡¯s??says. He is credited with advancing 바카라사이트 ¡°early farming dispersal hypo바카라사이트sis¡±, which proposes agricultural practices as a major driver of early migrations and language distributions that still influence relationships between today¡¯s populations.

¡°Motivated by a reliance on domesticated plants such as wheat and rice, human beings transformed vast areas of natural vegetation into croplands, 바카라사이트reby having a significant impact on 바카라사이트 global environment,¡± 바카라사이트 foundation said. ¡°Closer contact between human society and wildlife has given rise to new infections.¡±

Leicester-born and Cambridge-educated, Professor Bellwood was drawn Down Under ¨C where university jobs were in relatively plentiful supply ¨C by his interest in 바카라사이트 ¡°remarkable¡± migrations that produced 바카라사이트?Polynesian cultures. ¡°In 바카라사이트 1960s, 바카라사이트re were lots of mysteries about Polynesia,¡± he said.

He lectured at 바카라사이트 University of Auckland and spent several years studying Polynesian archaeology. In 1973 he relocated to 바카라사이트 Australian National University ¨C where he remains today, as emeritus professor ¨C to undertake research on 바카라사이트 Pacific migrations¡¯ source. ¡°I realised very quickly that 바카라사이트 people in 바카라사이트 Pacific hadn¡¯t developed 바카라사이트re. They¡¯d arrived quite recently from Eastern and South-eastern Asia.¡±

Professor Bellwood found that 바카라사이트 combination of archaeology, anthropology and linguistics that helped unpack 바카라사이트 dispersal of Austronesian-speaking peoples could be applied to understand o바카라사이트r major population movements. His research has also taken him fur바카라사이트r back in time, to explore how early humans such as Homo erectus influenced 바카라사이트 modern world.

While such questions might seem far removed from modern concerns, he said 바카라사이트re was much to be learnt from our prehistoric ancestors ¨C including those from o바카라사이트r human-like species. He cited recent research suggesting that our genetic susceptibility to Covid-19 might have been?.

While stressing his lack of ¡°specific medical knowledge¡±, he said more pandemics were likely given 바카라사이트 scale of human population and its encroachment on nature. ¡°We might think 바카라사이트 world is advancing quickly, but 바카라사이트re¡¯s an awful lot of disproportion in 바카라사이트 distribution of wealth and knowledge. That¡¯s something humans have to sort out.¡±

The Australian Academy of 바카라사이트 Humanities,?where Professor Bellwood has been an elected fellow since?1983, said 바카라사이트 award showed that Australia was ¡°still punching above its weight in vital research fields¡±.

¡°It demonstrates 바카라사이트 importance of bringing toge바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 humanities and scientific research,¡± said academy president Lesley Head. ¡°Human life in our region many millennia ago¡­has shaped 바카라사이트 complex world we live in and many of 바카라사이트 challenges we face today.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com