Noble savage myth takes another hit Down Under

Mankind has been rough on the environment for a long, long time; here's one more illustration that you don't need an industrial civilization to wreck an ecosystem:

SETTLERS who came to Australia 50,000 years ago and set fires that burned off natural flora and fauna may have triggered a cataclysmic weather change that turned the continent's interior into the dry desert it is today, United States and Australian researchers say.

Their study, reported in the latest issue of the journal, Geology, supports arguments that early settlers literally changed the landscape of the continent with fire. . .

Fossil evidence shows birds and marsupials that once lived in Australia's interior would have browsed on trees, shrubs and grasses rather than the desert scrub environment that is there today. . .

People are also blamed for killing off 85 per cent of Australia's huge animals, including an ostrich-sized bird, 19 species of marsupials, a 7.5m lizard and a Volkswagen-sized tortoise.

Some experts have suggested climate change caused by burning killed off these species, rather than direct hunting by humans.

Full article here; press release here. Spotted via Tim Blair, who has a few appropriately snarky remarks about those who blindly idealize aboriginal culture.

Posted by David on January 26, 2005 8:03 PM