Blog 1 - - - Section 42

Selection 42 – Collapse

Examines the choices people make resulting in life or collapse. Collapse is a large event that is made of many smaller factorials. The smaller aspects are not powerful enough to collapse a community single handedly, but when combined, they can turn devastatingly impacting. Many past collapse follow similar pattered traits. Populations begin with strong numbers, rapid expansion, and good resources. Only to have conditions turn to marginal with environmental strain. The populations can begin to abuse and destroy natural resource, from higher demands and uncontrolled growth. Recipe for a collapse is usually the final result, as proven with ancient cultures of the world.
Comparing current societies to past ones, the human impact/demand has risen so greatly, that current there are more factors to consider now, than the ancient cities had to deal with. Many arguments today deal with the amount of risk a nation is willing to take, it will not be a doomsday event causing mass extinction, but will most likely be a change of lifestyle as resource availability declines. A collapse is more likely to be the leading cause of an end of nation over any other event.
Jared Diamond identified five main problems, when separate cause little risk, but when combined can lead to a collapse. When humans invade a landscape, people affect the fragility of the land. Abuse and misuse will turn vital soil structures useless, or care and competence will make the land plentiful.
Populations that migrate to new land are faced with new climates, or climate change. Changes to the climate can be both natural and human induced. Natural changes happen in long cyclic periods that may seem to have never happened before, when they actually have occurred far back in history. People become optimistic and view good conditions will last for a long time, and bad conditions with dissipate quickly. Climate can play a big part in societies well being and ability to adapt. Many cultures have succeeded and grown in tough conditions, such as the Inuit.
Neighbors play an important part in determining a collapse. Hostile and decrease support from friendly neighbors can spell disaster. Even though battles through military campaigns, are thought to have been won on the battlefield. The actual underlies of starvation, or inadequate supply, will cause the defeat of a nation by author. Losing friendly trading nations can have similar impacts on a society. When a nation is dependent on anther countries, supply line can be cut-off. Problems on the supplier’s side will reflect over to the receivers, causing both nations to weaken.
Societies form views and beliefs on how there people should act towards each other and nature. Some nations deal with issues to resolve them, and other will do a quick fix that never really solves the initial problem, many times adding to the likelihood of a collapse. As in the history of Greenland, the population was running short on food but would not result to eating the plentiful fish in the ocean; as a result, because of their beliefs of not eating fish, the population collapsed and died off.
Some factors can be weighted differently, requiring smaller deviation to impact a nation. Nation impacts and environments have to work together to provide the necessary economy for the human population, and also to manage and preserve the environment, in which these important resources are extracted from. If practiced properly, global collapse “should” be able to be avoided.

This last summary has got me interested in reading the rest of the book in which the article came from. The concepts are well based, with examples to expand on the concepts. Like the rest of the articles, it was very interesting, and I am enjoying reading more in-depth on topics that are only generally understood by the public. The five steps considered to lead a country to collapse, can be placed on any nation that has, and come out true, really a interesting concept.



Reference

Easton T. (2009) Environmental Studies, Sections 42. New York: McGraw-Hill