I’m currently reading Gibbon’s “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” and came across this:
The modern improvements sufficiently explain the causes of the diminution of the cold. These immense woods have been gradually cleared, which intercepted from the earth the rays of the sun. The morasses have been drained, and, in proportion as the soil has been cultivated, the air has become more temperate.
Tags: globalwarming, gibbon
