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0455 The Pulse of Asia : vol.1
The Pulse of Asia : vol.1 / Page 455 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000233
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to be that in many arid regions forests have been cut off,
and have not been able to replace themselves because of in-
creasing desiccation due to other causes. In Europe, the for-
ests have been cleared because the country has now become
so warm that agriculture is profitable and a dense population
can be supported. The climate of Europe seems to have
gone through the same changes as that of Africa and Asia.
Before summing up the results which changes of climate
may have had upon the history of the world as a whole, it
will be profitable to inquire into the influence of the far
milder changes of the Brückner cycles during the nineteenth
century. If they prove to have been attended by important
results, we can scarcely avoid the conclusion that greater
changes must have produced greater results. The world-
wide dry periods of the last century may roughly be said to
embrace the years 1830–40, 1865–75, and 1887–97. During
the first epoch the Lop basin suffered severely from drought.
The villages of Dumuka, Ponak, and others were abandoned
for lack of water; and new villages were founded higher up-
stream. Distress of the same sort prevailed in other places,
and large numbers of people moved to new sites. Some went
along the zone of vegetation, and far to the east founded the
villages of Niya, Cherchen, and Charklik. The movements of
this time are unquestionably due to climate, and it is fair to
say that whatever of hardihood and experience, or of trouble
and distress, came to the people as the direct result of their
migrations, may be set down as a result, slight but genuine,
of the action of geographic forces in forming character.
The next two periods of deficient rainfall are character-
ized by rebellions among the Dungans and others, and by