What's The Best Temperature for Civilization?

Slightly colder is also better for food storage and pest control.

Once again someone fails to explain how Russians are even alive

Climate was much different in Bronze Age when most of early civilisations thrived. I think you should include climate fluctuations into this thought experiment

Mongols: screw temperature, hold my horse

Forgetting the Aztec civilization which was quite the achievement and the Incan civilization which were both in the Americas and within the correct temperature zones

Temperature changes over time, for exemple, you used the same map to justify the place of origin of humans but thousands of years ago that region might have had a different temperature

It gets even more interesting when you know that egypt and iraq were a bit colder 5k years ago !!

You need one more ingredient: periodic winters that force people to work and gather in the summer to be able to survive the winter. As you said, work is a key factor, but not just work - but over working compared to current existing needs. A seasonal weather pattern forces this onto people initially and then it develops into culture and planning, supplies gathering, organization, work ethic, a society and then it can be transported to other places. Egypt actually had this external periodic forcing with the flooding of the Nile.

You mentioned India as an anomaly but the Mayans existed for 1000s of years in the same temperature/climate

13:13 >talks about China >shows footage of Frankfurt, Germany

"Availability of Food & Agriculture" has been the single biggest reason for civilizations & populations. Historically river valleys have served as the starting point of civilizations. Temperature is the least of all the concerns once Humans developed proper clothing & houses. And "food" is the only reason India & China have historically been the most populous regions on the earth even though Egypt had a headstart.

I like how you can clearly see poland's borders by just looking at this map

how about humidity? i think it has impact on how we feel on temperature

How about humidity? temperature is just a portion of climate.

I have liked your other videos, but frankly this one is a mess. There are several problems with your theory and the way you approach the topic. 1. You didn't mention the Aztecs, the Mayans and the Incas. These were advanced native civilizations that emerged in Mexico, Central America and the Andes (areas on yellow and green on your map). They were certainly more advanced than native civilizations elsewhere in the Americas and in many parts of the world at the time. These civilizations also developed agriculture, writing, maths, and domestication on their own. Seems like a big oversight. 2. The inclusion of the United States in this video makes no sense. The USA is not an "ancient civilization". It's a modern nationstate that emerged after the industrial revolution as a product of colonization. The industrial revolution changed the rules of the game and climate stopped being as big a factor as a result. Thus the USA is not a "civilization", but an extension of the broader "Western civilization" which also includes Argentina, Australia and to an extent South Africa, nations that are also the products of European colonialism. These nations are also fairly successful as the most developed regions in their respective continents, with influential world cities like Sydney, Buenos Aires or Cape Town. It's true that ancient civilizations didn't emerge there but neither did they in the United States. Modern nationstates are both present there and in the United States. You are engaging in an anachronism by mentioning the USA as a separate "civilization" and confusing the issue. 3. You are using a modern climate map to describe civilizations that emerged as far back as 7000 years ago. Climate has changed a lot since then. 4. You barely mentioned rivers which are one of the main factors that affected the development of ancient civilizations. 5. Your maps don't have New Zealand on them.

The Aztec empire also falls within the “sweet spot” and was up there as one of the most advanced ancient civilizations

New Zealand has left the chat

Celsius instead of Fahrenheit, praise the lord!

Here in India. Temperature in Winter reaches 5 And Summer reaches 48

But average doesn't mean it will be same throughout the year. Fluctuations also could have been taken into account. What's the point of having 21° C average when your extremes are 35° C and 7° C. I would rather prefer 24°C average with extremes of 21°C and 27° C .