Deforestation undermined the Maya civilisation

New scientific research adds weight to previous theories that the ancient Maya civilisation died off some 1000 years ago due to local climate changes that were a consequence of chopping down much of their forest.

Climatologist Ben Cook, author of the study, presented his evidence recently at a conference organised by the American Geophysical Union. In essence, his work demonstrates that the Maya deforested to make land available for agriculture. As a consequence, the land surface increased in reflectivity (or "albedo") which impacted on rainfall patterns in the area. Non-forested land absorbs less energy from the sun, making less energy available for creating convection and precipitation.

Cook's modelling of pre-historic land cover reconstruction shows that by 950AD there was very little forest left in the Yucatan, one of the Maya's main bases. Furthermore, the research indicates that rainfall around that time had dropped by around 20%.

The study's author suggests that droughts, partly caused by deforestation, induced the collapse of the Maya civilisation by crippling agricultural production and simultaneously politically destabilising their society.

Source: mongabay.com

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