In Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Jared Diamond – a geographer, historian, anthropologist and ornithologist – asks why some societies, such as the Mayans, did not make it, while others have thrived. The reasons go beyond climate change, and sometimes include factors such as war with other societies and trade. But the standout collapse that Diamond cites, of the inhabitants of Easter Island, is blamed on their overuse of natural resources, and their seeming reluctance or inability to stop before it was too late – and as such it is a chilling illustration of the way we are headed now, and a powerful lesson on why we face a choice about the destiny of the planet today.
further reading…
In Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Jared Diamond – a geographer, historian, anthropologist and ornithologist – asks why some societies, such as the Mayans, did not make it, while others have thrived. The reasons go beyond climate change, and sometimes include factors such as war with other societies and trade. But the standout collapse that Diamond cites, of the inhabitants of Easter Island, is blamed on their overuse of natural resources, and their seeming reluctance or inability to stop before it was too late – and as such it is a chilling illustration of the way we are headed now, and a powerful lesson on why we face a choice about the destiny of the planet today.