This is not the first time that profound changes in the planet’s climate cause great upheaval for living beings. Today, we dwell on a piece of history that marked the end of the Mayan civilization.
For nearly 30 years, researchers have been investigating the collapse of the Maya civilization. At its height, it spread across a territory including Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. If part the mystery of their downfall still persists today, it is important to note that changing environmental conditions is among the top 3 causes. A succession of terrible droughts would be responsible for the slow collapse of the Maya.
Precipitation decreased from 54% to 41% between 700 and 1000 CE. This would explain the gradual abandonment of the great Mayan cities.
How did they study this period’s weather?
It is by using a geochemical method that researchers detailed the different phases of disruption. Among other things, they measured the isotopes of water drawn into the Gypsum crystals found in Chichantcanab Lake in the Yucatan Peninsula.
And according to researchers at the University of Cambridge and the University of Florida, this climate problem added to incessant conflicts between the great cities would have lead to the downfall of this very advanced civilization.
One could, therefore, ask the following question: if climatic disturbances over 300 years affected the Maya, could we not be undergoing similar changes now? And following these major changes, one can also ask the following question: how did the climate regulate itself thereafter to find balance?