People in the past were aware of the effects of human actions on the climate. This book, the fruit of a ten-year investigation, recounts that long history.

Contrary to common belief, climate change has long been considered to be an existential threat. From the dawn of the modern era until the middle of the 20th century, in every place where history was advancing rapidly, many scholars, heads of state, colonists, historians, farmers, and engineers have tirelessly debated about climate transformations, sometimes rejoicing in them, often worrying about them. This book is the first to recount the history of societies that have undergone changes in climate but have also pondered and prepared for them: societies that, believing they may be partly responsible, have striven to control their own development.