Slide show on ancient societies for ES

1. Easter Island
2,300 miles off coast of Chile

2. 900 AD
Population: 30,000

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

12. •Environmental Damage
(overuse)
•Climate Change
•Abandonment by 1150

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