Microcosmic histories - Island perspectives on ''global'' change

The Pacific Islands, particularly the Polynesian islands, provide excellent model systems for understanding the human dimensions of global change. This is due to their uniquely microcosmic aspect. Little worlds unto themselves, islands are natural history's best shot at something approaching the controlled experiment. The human choices that have led to particular outcomes on these islands teach us that nothing is inevitable or predetermined. The more we understand how our predecessors fashioned the earth we have inherited, the better we may be able to achieve a ''sustainable'' relationship with our planet, our own Little microcosm within the cosmos.