2.6 - Environmental Effects of Connectivity

• There were environmental consequences that arose from the various trading connections across the world in 1200 to 1450
• The focus will be on agricultural transfers and transfers of people's nasty germs, which is to say disease
• With all these states being linked through trade routes like the Silk Roads, the Indian Ocean trade, and the trans-Saharan trade, lots of people were moving around and intermingling
• They were introducing new crops to various places
• Agricultural transfers


  • Bananas in Africa
  • Champa rice in East Asia
  • Citrus fruits like sour orange and limes in Europe and North Africa
• Bananas in Africa


  First domesticated in Southeast Asia, introduced to Africa through merchants crossing the Indian Ocean, flourished in the lush rainforests of sub-Saharan Africa, expanded the diets of the people and led to population growth
• Champa rice in East Asia


  Drought-resistant grain of rice introduced to China from the Champa Kingdom in Vietnam, matured quickly and could be harvested more than once a season, led to a population explosion in China
• Citrus fruits in Europe and North Africa


  Introduced by Muslim traders into Europe via the Mediterranean trade routes, spread throughout Europe and North Africa, led to more variation in diets and better health
• The environmental drama in this period was the spread of the Bubonic plague
• The Mongols increased the pace and volume in geographical extent of trade by keeping the various trade routes safe, which led to the rapid spread of the Bubonic plague across Eurasia in 1331
• The Bubonic plague had a devastating effect, killing nearly a third of the population in the Middle East and half the population in parts of Europe
• Whether it was crops or germs, the consequences of connectivity during this period were significant