Water, Environment and Society in Times of Climatic Change

Since the greenhouse effect emerged as a predictable threat, necessitating the evalu ation of its future impact on the environment in the various parts of the globe, interest in the climate changes during the Holocene has gained momentum. The background can be summarized by the sentence: The past is a key to the future. As a matter of fact, this sentence is in the opposite direction, on the dimension of time, to the principle adopted by the founders of the science of geology. They proposed that geological processes in the present should be used as a key for understanding the past. Another reason for the interest in the history of the climate of the Holocene can be described as the renaissance of a modified deterministic approach to the inter relation between physical and human geography. This relates in the first place to the fact that various investigations, especially as carried out by Hubert Lamb, showed that the sequence of climate changes previously suggested by Blytt and Sernander for Europe and adopted by most Holocene climatologists was far too general, and that there were more climate changes during recent history than previously taken account of. In the second place it was found out that these changes had had an impact on the history of human communities. Thus, one can conclude that once the taboo on geographical determinism (i. e.

Zusammenfassung
Contributions from an International Workshop within the framework of International Hydrological Program (IHP) UNESCO, held at Ben-Gurion University, Sede Boker, Israel from 7-12 July 1996

Inhalt

1. Application of a Global Volcanicity Time-Series on High-Resolution Paleoclimatic Modeling of the Eastern Mediterranean.- 2. Abrupt Climate Change around 2,650 BP in North-West Europe: Evidence for Climatic Teleconnections and a Tentative Explanation.- 3. Medieval Climatic Anomaly in the Americas.- 4. Approaching the Medieval Optimum, 212 to 1000 AD.- 5. Paleohydrology of the Northern Negev: Comparative Evaluation of Two Catchments.- 6. Climate Change and History during the Holocene in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.- 7. Population Growth and Decline in the Northern Part of Eretz-Israel during the Historical Period as Related to Climatic Changes.- 8. Settlement, Agriculture and Paleoclimate in Uvda Valley, Southern Negev Desert, 6th3rd Millennia BC.- 9. Middle to Late Holocene (6,500 Yr. Period) Paleoclimate in the Eastern Mediterranean Region from Stable Isotopic Composition of Speleothems from Soreq Cave, Israel.- 10. Early to Mid-Holocene Environmental Changes and Their Impact on Human Communities in Southeastern Anatolia.- 11. Some Considerations on Climatic Changes, Water Resources and Water Needs in the Italian Region South of 43°N.- 12. Frequency of Extreme Hydroclimatically-Induced Events as a Key to Understanding Environmental Changes in the Holocene.- 13. The Impact of Climate Changes on Groundwater Regimes and Resources in Russia.- 14. Pollen Records of Past Climate Changes in West Africa since the Last Glacial Maximum.- 15. Sahara Environmental Changes during the Quaternary and their Possible Effect on Carbon Storage.- 16. Climatic Change during the Pleistocene/Holocene Transition in Upland Western Maharashtra, Western India.- 17. Aspects of Climate Variability and the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme.