Un confronto fra due regioni attraverso la stratificazione umana: la Sardegna centro-orientale e la Campania felix

The major conditioning factor in the man-environment relationship is climate, a modern word which derives from the Greek klìma-atos meaning inclination (of the Earth, from the equator to the poles). The word, however, has always indicated "the habitual course of weather in a given region". This definition for climate was given by Vladimir Köppen at the beginning of the 20th century, but over time the definition has been refined passing from "A complex of normal and abnormal weather conditions which characterize a place" (Filippo Eredia); to "The complex of atmospheric conditions which are more or less suitable to man's wellbeing and to the development of those plants which he employs" (Luigi De Marchi). In more recent definitions, anthropological and economical factors are also taken into consideration: "Climate is well defined by the meteorological and environmental conditions which characterize a geographic region over a long period of time, thus determining the flora and fauna and influencing also the economic activities, habits and culture of populations which inhabit the place". It is only in the more recent works that anthropologic and economic components are considered. In the "vagueness" of the earlier "definitions" it is easy to comprehend how difficult it is to define climate. Expressions such as habitual course of weather, for long periods of time, etc. found in preceding definitions of climate are subjective and vague. Each author has proposed their own definition of a long period of time, often with regard to their own studies. For the present work, we have considered a period of 30 solar years a sufficient period of time (1 climatological year = 30 solar years). Furthermore, terms such as rainy, temperate, continental, etc, tell us little about the general characteristics. Instead these terms refer to local aspects of a situation produced by a vast exchange of causes, effects and feedbacks that take place between the atmosphere, oceans, continents, orography, hydrography and vegetation. These actions occur on a spatial scale involving the entire solar system and on a temporal scale from the most remote eras up until today. Ancient peoples passed down the idea that in the beginning of time there was chaos, and that following a violent separation of the Earth from the Heavens, with the interposition of Air between the two, an initial order was established. Philology provides us with the possibility to investigate how ancient peoples interpreted natural phenomena. The critical study, of ancient texts, evidences, by the language, the most archaic and common concepts on these themes. The primitive Indoeuropean languages created their mythology in the same way and the cult of divinities associated with natural phenomena were commonly at the core. There has always been a close connection between culture, faith and scientific research. Humanism and science are realities which are deeply linked, and this makes climate a topic of common dominion, apart from the more or less artificial borders between those who act in the world of science and those in the world of letters. Today these borders need to be overcome so that we may, together, deal with the problem of climate change. There can be many reasons which may provoke climate modifications. These, even if generated in areas which are far away, can strongly influence, in a chain of interactions, the meteorology and environmental conditions of the territory in which we live. The influences can both cancel out life or favor the development of new civilizations able to utilize that which nature has made available in that moment and in that place, or they can cause migrations of entire populations with their tragedies, history and hopes. Thus, we are driven to avoid stereot