Mayan Civilization’s Collapse: Deforestation

Does this sound familiar? Although this quote is excerpted from a Live Science article about the

The location of the ancient Mayan civilization in the Yucatan Peninsula

ancient Mayan civilization in the rain forests of Guatemala, the reference to tree pollen being replaced by weed pollen sounds a lot like our present civilization.

I live in a rural area in the U.S., and everywhere around me, forests are being cut down to create subdivisions.

From pollen trapped in ancient layers of lake sediment, scientists have learned that around 1,200 years ago, just before the civilization’s collapse, tree pollen disappeared almost completely and was replaced by the pollen of weeds. In other words, the region became almost completely deforested.

Aren’t we cutting down trees and replacing them with cities, farms, and industrial regions? Don’t most of us live in areas where tree pollen hardly exists any more? 

The above quote refers to the ancient Mayan civilization in the Peten region of Guatemala. According to a Live Science article, Ancient Mayan Canals Possibly Spotted in Satellite Images,  NASA climate scientist Bob Ogelsby at the Marshall Space Flight Center, learned from computer simulations that:

Without trees, erosion would have worsened, carrying away fertile topsoil. The changing groundcover would have boosted the temperature of the region by as much as 6 degrees, . . .

The article goes on to say that the basic cause of the Mayan civilization’s collapse was because of ongoing food and water shortages brought on by a “combination of natural drought and deforestation by humans.”  Could we be creating our own civilization’s collapse by deforesting our land? Can we learn from the ancient Maya?

From my point of view, the most important thing has to do with the disregard for our dependence on the nature kingdom.

Touring a Beer Factory in Guatemala

If you’ve ever hankered to tour a beer distillery in Guatemala as a field trip when learning a Spanish language intensive, take a look at today’s blog post from Miriam Balsley who is the narrator and hostess of the Yucatan Travel Movie. She writes:

Next we headed to the actual factory where the bottles are cleaned, filled, topped, and labeled. The above is a photo of one of our teachers, Miguel, who has a nickname of Gato, or Cat. He is one of the handful of Guatemalans who have intense green eyes, hence his nickname. He’s hanging out with one of the old bottling machines.

Beer

I didn’t know that there are a handful of Guatemalans who have intense green eyes. Did you? How do you like that!

Copyright (c) 2010 Carol Chapman
All Rights Reserved

2012 and Mayan Elder in Guatemala Videos

Here’s a link to some beautiful videos of Don Alejandro, a Guatemala Mayan elder. The link was sent to me by a delightful person from British Columbia where I will be going in a week to speak about 2012, Edgar Cayce and the Maya. 

I’ll be speaking on Thursday evening, May 28th in Comox (near Courtenay) and on the evening of June 5th in Nanaimo.

I will also be giving a day-long seminar called “Secrets of a Psychic” in Nanaimo on Saturday, May 30th.

Don Alejandro Cirilo Perez Oxlaj, head of the National Mayan Council of Elders of Guatemala.

Carol Chapman —

Copyright (d) 2009 Carol Chapman