Response to Christiansen and Altaweel

This response contextualizes Christiansen and Altaweel's paper within broader currents of human-climate interactions. It then examines some of the implications of the use of wide ranging data sources for the construction of complex models as well as some of the broader implications of the simulations. These models demonstrate the richness of human responses to environmental and social stresses as well as the tendencies for human social groups to evolve and become differentiated through simulated time.