Did Drought and Deforestation cause the Mayan Civilization to Collapse?

I was perusing the news and found this article about the decline and fall of the Mayan Civilization. It seems that a new theory states that the Mayans may have partially brought about their own demise.

Scientists have found that drought played a key role, but the Mayans appear to have exacerbated the problem by cutting down the jungle canopy to make way for cities and crops, according to researchers who used climate-model simulations to see how much deforestation aggravated the drought.

This would explain the "sudden" decline of Mayan Civilization and is in line with recent theories about ancient Egypt
and the end of their civilization.

news.yahoo.com...

also some relevant info here:
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by redbarron626


That is a strong possibility IMO. Seem just like what humans are doing now....using our ressources to a point where a lot is simply wasted. It would explain a lot for sure.....but the spanish didnèt help them much either..

Originally posted by redbarron626
I was perusing the news and found this article about the decline and fall of the Mayan Civilization. It seems that a new theory states that the Mayans may have partially brought about their own demise.

Scientists have found that drought played a key role, but the Mayans appear to have exacerbated the problem by cutting down the jungle canopy to make way for cities and crops, according to researchers who used climate-model simulations to see how much deforestation aggravated the drought.

This would explain the "sudden" decline of Mayan Civilization and is in line with recent theories about ancient Egypt
and the end of their civilization.

news.yahoo.com...

also some relevant info here:
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

edit on 22-8-2012 by redbarron626 because: (no reason given)

Yes, environmental degradation caused by the Maya themselves, combined with planet wide climate shifts, possibly caused by the eruption of krakatoa and or an a possible oceanic impact event in 536 led to the shift of Maya populations.
If you want more info on the Maya collapse read " Collapse" by Jared Diamond, or "The Little Ice Age", or
" Catastrophe", the last two authors names I can't remember, but those books talk about the climatic changes during the first millenia and thier possible causes.

reply to post by punkinworks10


Thanks for the extra info!

I will take some time and look them up.