Collapse of Easter Island

transcript

上海根与芽青少年活动中心

Why Bother?Why Bother?

Marcus Tay Guan Hock a cus ay Gua ocRoots & Shoots Eco office Project Coordinator

There is No Problem

Some people don’t believe in the environmental problems that humans are

inflicting on the planet are serious inflicting on the planet are serious enough.

There is No Problem

We don’t think that there is an urgency to change our current lifestyle.

2 Reasons Why There is No 2 Reasons Why There is No Crisis

• Great Civilization with amazing advances

2 Reasons Why There is No 2 Reasons Why There is No Crisis

• 1 person small• 1 Earth

full of resources

Easter as eIsland StoryStory

Easter Island in 1772

• On Easter Sunday, April 5, 1722, • Dutch sea captain named Jacob Roggeveen

l d d landed

• 900 statues, the heaviest weighting up to 80 tons, about 6 metres tall

• Barren island , no trees

How Did the Statues Come How Did the Statues Come About?

carved in a volcanic quarry

dragged up over the lift of the quarry

All accomplished by human All accomplished by human muscles power alone!!!

D d 13 ili d ti ll Dragged 13 miles down to the coast

raised up vertically onto platforms

How Did the Statues Come How Did the Statues Come About?

Only a great civilization could have done that with the technology of gythat period.

Yet, islanders were toppling the statues they erected with great effort.

Why?Why?

Easter island in AD 800

Polynesians coming from the south east asia, sometime around AD800

Easter Island in AD800

• Tropical forest – largest palm tree species, 6 species of land birds, 37 i bi d l t 37 species sea birds – largest collection in the pacific ocean

Palm treesalbatrossbooby

Easter Island in AD800

• They made canoes from the trees and went out to hunt porpoise and tuna.

• It was an island full of resources and pop lation co ld ha e and population could have reached 10000 at its peak

Back to 1772

• Barren island with no trees, • No land birds left, only 1 sea bird species left • Population of 2000• Toppling statues

Wh H d?What Happened?

What Happened?

• As population grew, trees were chopped down for logs to make rollers to move the statues, to make the canoes for firewood etc to make the canoes, for firewood etc.

They ran out of trees!They ran out of trees!

No Trees?

No trees meant…

• No new statues• No canoes to go out there to

h nt po poise and t nahunt porpoise and tuna• No firewood, burn agricultural

waste waste • No cover for soil• Agriculture yields decreasedg y

What Shall We Eat?

• NO canoes –NO seafood

• NO land birds, 1 sea bird

HUMANS?

上海根与芽青少年活动中心Then…

Cannibalism.

Easter Easter Island T dToday

Easter Island and Us Today

• Great Civilization

Easter – statues

Us man on moon Us – man on moon, internet

Easter Island and Us Today

• Full of resources

Easter tropical forest largest palm tress Easter – tropical forest – largest palm tress species.

Us – the Entire Earth

Another Similarity: Isolation

• Easter island – 2000 miles west of Chile

1600 miles east of the nearest pacific island – 1600 miles east of the nearest pacific island

Easter Island---A Lonely Islandy

Only living planet in theOnly living planet in the solar system , 4.3 light years from the nearest star.

The Earth---A Lonely PlanetThe Earth A Lonely Planet

Easter Island

Easter Islanders rose and fell by themselves.What about us?

Save the EarthSave the Earth

• “ My personal stand is this: As environmentalists, we are not trying to salvage the earth per se. We are merely buying time so that scientists and researchers can find scientists and researchers can find alternative forms of resources. … All they need is time. That’s All they need is time. That s where the environmentalists come in.”

Darren Shiau

JARED DIAMONDProfessor GeographyProfessor, Geography and Physiology, Department of Geography, UCLA

The above content was from “Collapse” b J d Di dby Jared Diamond

Other Debates

• Rats coming with Polynesians ate the seeds of the palm trees. E h l t d di • Europeans who come later – spread diseases and capture slaves

Collapse of Easter Island

Education