What is Iron Age technology?
As its name suggests, Iron Age technology is characterized by the production of tools and weaponry by ferrous metallurgy (ironworking), more specifically from carbon steel.
How did iron smelting technologies impact the environment?
Iron smelting technology gradually spread from Anatolia and Mesopotamia across Eurasia. By around 1000 BCE, Indian farmers needed more rice paddies to feed the growing number of people in new cities. So they used iron tools to clear the forests around the subcontinent’s great rivers to make room for rice.
How did Iron change the world?
Iron made life a lot easier in those days, when just living to the age of 45 was a feat. Iron farming tools, such as sickles and plough tips, made the process more efficient and allowed farmers to exploit tougher soils, try new crops and have more time for other activities.
Are we living in a plastic age?
Scientists suggest the plastic layers could be used to mark the start of the Anthropocene, the proposed geological epoch in which human activities have come to dominate the planet. They say after the bronze and iron ages, the current period may become known as the plastic age.
What would happen if plastic was never invented?
Without the invention of plastic, you wouldn’t be able to watch this video – without the plastic needed for electrical insulation, there would be no inexpensive circuits to build your phone or computer. And 700 marine species wouldn’t be affected by plastic debris.
How was plastic a mistake?
Plastic. Although earlier plastics had relied on organic material, the first fully synthetic plastic was invented in 1907 when Leo Hendrik Baekeland accidentally created Bakelite. Baekeland combined formaldehyde with phenol, a waste product of coal, and subjected the mixture to heat.
How long has plastic pollution been a problem?
Ocean pollution became increasingly apparent in the late 1960s, with researchers conducting some of the first intensive studies on plastic litter. Scientists noted occurrences of Laysan Albatrosses ingesting plastic items and northern fur seals becoming entangled in netting.