The Great Lakes

In history, we have often seen large inequalities in terms of land use and population distribution. For so much land, more than a billion people live on the coastline. Now that may be so for trade, but it is undeniable that coastal climates are perfectly suited for crop growing and building human settlements due to the fact the large sea helps to regulate the land temperature, making it not too hot or cold - but just perfect for humans.

Why are people not living as much in land? Due to the fact that it is harder to grow crops and they are more susceptible to the wide changes in temperatures making life hard. Now if, on the other hand, we had large lakes and inland seas, it would be much easy to live and farm the land and live a generally good life, allowing for more people to live in land and a generally wider distribution of people. The best example of this are the Great Lakes in America. Not only do they allow people to live next to a wide body of water which caters to their needs, it helps to balance out temperatures.

Now the question to be asked is, could we have had an alternate development of the human race which more such Great Lakes? How would have Siberia possibly looked with lakes in its interior helping to make life more liveable? Or Africa - would the Sahara still exist? And what about Canada? Those lakes, if they were larger, could have led to the Inuits pehaps becoming a stable society.

Well, in this endevour we dare to ask that question - and we dare to answer it. So for those few who will undertake the development of the timeline - there is a big job to do. And those reading it, I hope the experience is memorable.

Welcome to The Great Lakes.