There is a general view that the current environmental crisis is a new phenomenon and a consequence of the excesses of capitalism and human exuberance over the 20th century. This latter assumption, is historically myopic for it does not take into account the many phases of environmental crisis that have occurred throughout the course of world history for the last 5000 years.

Long-term empirical information as early as 3000 B.C. covering climate changes, deforestation, and soil erosion will be presented to substantiate the argument that ecological crises not are new.

In view of the current state of globalization and the global environmental crisis, the lecture will also attempt to map out some patterns of the ecological past in order to project some possible ecological futures.

About Sing C. Chew
Prof. Sing C. Chew is a Guest Scientist at the UFZ Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle, Leipzig, Germany, and Professor of Sociology at California State University-Humboldt, Arcata, California, USA.

Prior to his current appointments, Prof. Chew has been Associate Director in the Offi ce of Vice-President, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ottawa, Canada; Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore; and Visiting Professor, Division of Human Ecology, Lund University, Sweden.

He is the Founding Editor of the interdisciplinary journal, Nature and Culture, which will have its inaugural issue in Spring 2006. Recent books include Structure, Culture, and History: Recent Issues in Social Theory, and World Ecological Degradation: Accumulation, Urbanization, and Deforestation 3000B.C. — A.D.2000.