Over the years we have heard over a hundred proposed causes for the downfall of the Mayan civilization, reasons including hurricanes, overpopulation, disease, warfare, and peasant revolt. One conventional theory has it that the Maya relied on slash-and-burn agriculture. However, researchers from the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, launched the satellite program, known as SERVIR, in early 2005 and made remarkable Mayan discovery.
On February 28th, 2008 National Geographic reported that the program also found traces of the Maya’s hidden, possibly disastrous agricultural past— and is now using those lessons to help ensure that today’s civilizations fare better in the face of modern-day climate change. During a meeting of the American Association of the Advancement of Science in Boston, Massachusetts, earlier this month, NASA’s only archaeologist, Tom Sever said:
“Our recent research shows that another factor may have been climate change.”
The researchers think the Maya agricultural practices also included exploitation of seasonal wetlands called bajos, which make up more than 40 percent of the Petén landscape of the ancient empire. They add that if the world governments of today heed the warnings, the project data may truly save lives.
Disappearing Wetlands
We can’t help but be aware that many of the world’s wetlands, have shrunk or dried up completely in the wake of dam construction and deliberate drainage. Even the United States, a country with detailed wetland protection laws and inventories, has yet to stop wetland losses within its borders, although the net rate of loss has slowed. The lower 48 states lost an estimated 53 percent of their wetlands over the 200 years before the 1980s yet, the exploitation continues.
References
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
United Nations Environment Programme
Current distribution of wetlands in the USA
Lydia M.
March 10, 2008
My blog is new (has a “time” element as its source, as well). I went the Google blogspot route because I don’t know what in the heck I’m doing. It seems rather restrictive, but that is probably due to my neophyte blogger status rather than blogspot formats, etc.
I found your blog tonight while looking for encouraging examples of what can grow from a simple blog. What you have created is so impressive; I’m in awe! I am just shaking my head in amazement at all your blog offers to your readers. I can’t even get a hit counter to work for me, and you have that plus a spam blocker. All this would be discouraging if I wasn’t sure that I need to develop in this sense.
I’d like to place a link to your wonderful blog in my blog, but I don’t know how to do that either. Your “Recently Played” area just updated — wow. I think my own middle-aged female brain may need some sleep after all this! Quite seriously, this is great stuff.
brightfeather
March 10, 2008
@Lydia M.
I’m glad to hear that you like my blog. I haven’t used blogspot regularly since 2006 so, I cannot be a resource when it comes to giving you a hand to get up and running on your blogger blog. However, I’m sure that blogspot software is in such wide use that their FAQs at Blogger must contain basic information on how to create links, etc. and that there must be blogspot bloggers with blogs that are dedicated to publishing or featuring blogging tips posts. It sounds like you and Google will be going steady for awhile until you find the help you need to get underway.
Thanks for dropping by and commenting. :-)