Ancient
- 1. Easter Island 2,300 miles off coast of Chile
- 3. 400 Statues 20’- 70’ Tall 10 - 270 Tons • Complex, diverse society • 11 or 12 intergraded clans
- 5. What Happened? • Palm Trees disappeared by 1400 • 21 native plant species vanished • 1722 - no trees over 10’ - virtually total deforestation • 1774 - Cook visit - described islanders as - “small, lean and miserable” • Overuse of resources causes ecological collapse
- 7. Anaszi 600 AD Over 100,000 population
- 8. Complex farming society Fragile, dry environment
- 9. • Good solutions to water issues • Population increases
- 11. • Overuse of resources •Vegetation changes •Declining harvest •Coinciding issues with drought
- 13. Mayan Society 250 AD Population: 8 million
- 14. • Creative and advanced society • Cutting edge of technology and culture
- 15. • Water shortage solutions - created reservoirs and cisterns • Branching out of population to hills and slopes • Deforestation and erosion • Issues with prolonged droughts - need water for crops • Issues with storing corn due to humidity
- 16. • Multi- kingdoms - politically divided • Competition for resources • Warfare intense and chronic
- 17. Collapse of society by 1150 AD • Overuse of resources • Climate changes (drought) • Hostile neighbors • Governmental Response
- 18. What were the Kings and Nobles doing? “Their attention was evidently focused on their short- term concerns of enriching themselves, waging wars, erecting monuments, competing with each other , and extracting enough food from peasants to support all those activities”
- 19. Why Do Some Societies Make Disastrous Decisions? • Failure to anticipate a problem before it arrives • Failure to perceive a problem after it arrives • Failure to attempt to solve a problem once it has been perceived • Failure to succeed in attempts to solve it
- 20. Environmental Sustainability The ability to meet humanity’s current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The environment can function indefinitely without going into decline. Maintain a healthy environment in which natural resources are not overused and excessive pollution is not generated.
- 21. Ecosystem Services • Important environmental benefits that ecosystems provide – goods and services • Purification of air and water • Mitigation of droughts and floods • Pollination of crops and vegetation • Detoxification and decomposition of wastes • Maintenance of biodiversity • Control of agricultural pests • Protection from harmful solar rays
- 22. What are services worth?
- 23. Ecosystem services (US Trillion $) Soil formation 17.1 Recreation 3.0 Nutrient cycling 2.3 Water regulation and supply 2.3 Climate regulation 1.8 Habitat 1.4 Flood and storm protection 1.1 Food and raw materials production 0.8 Genetic resources 0.8 Atmospheric gas balance 0.7 Pollination 0.4