Environmental and Demographic Impact

Contact between Afro-Eurasia and the Americas brought dramatic changes to both. Most changes resulted from the Columbian Exchange. In addition, though, Europeans used agricultural land more intensively than did American Indians. For example, colonists cut down trees to clear areas for planting crops, and they created large fields that they cultivated year after year. As a result, deforestation and soil depletion became problems in the Americas. In addition, Europeans often lived in more densely populated communities than did American Indians. This increased the strain on water resources and created more concentrated areas of pollution.