Abstract
This paper discusses the implications of asynchronous regional development for the study of pre-industrial environmental conditions. It suggests that while recent exponential growth in global population has swamped the effects of regional technology differences, those differences are relevant when studying the pre-industrial past. It develops a simple population/environmental impact model to show that an assumption of uniform global development may understate long-lived irreversible anthropogenic environmental impacts, relative to a more realistic assumption of asynchronicity.