In this era, humans connected the four world zones and found new energy sources, such as fossil fuels, which revolutionized basically everything. Complexity increased, with positive and negative results for the average human being.

The connection of the world zones helped establish empires unlike any the world had ever known, powered by incredible technological breakthroughs. But this interconnection came at a staggering cost.

Fossil fuels were the key to unlocking a huge amount of energy. Using these fuels has led to increases in population and innovation, but they’ve also caused pollution and climate change.

Industrialization kicked off the Modern Revolution, and within a few hundred years many societies had advanced so much they were almost unrecognizable. We can connect and share ideas with others in real time, fly around the world, and even visit the Moon. Try to keep up with all the changes in this lesson!

When did globalization begin? That’s not an easy question to answer. The world became interconnected after the Columbian Exchange, but industrialization accelerated our connections to people across the world. Let’s see if we can come to our own conclusions.

Accessing new energy sources made humans the most powerful species on the planet. But interconnection, industrialization, and acceleration have created some of the greatest challenges our species has ever faced.