Past is Present: Climate Adaptation, Resilience, and Malaria in the Holocene

Planning for global warming requires an understanding of past climate change events, their impacts, and human strategies for resilience. From small-scale societies to urban civilizations, human communities have reorganized in the face of environmental change in a wide variety of typically unappreciated ways, which had diverse consequences for health. This chapter provides case studies of past Rapid Climate Change events, the social factors that shaped risk and responses, and the long-term impact of different choices on human health and well-being. The cases are focused on a One Health—or One Paleopathology—perspective on vector borne infections, particularly malaria. Archaeological data on malaria in the past demonstrate the full range of human diversity, the promise of communication, cooperation, Indigenous leadership, and stewardship in the pursuit of an equitable, sustainable, healthy future.