'Collapse' Precis

Ecocide – unintended ecological suicide – occurs when people destroy the environmental resources they depend on. Collapse: How Societies choose to Fail or Survive (2005), by Jared Diamond, considers this to be the one of the five key reasons for the collapses of past societies. According to Diamond, the collapse of a society is defined as ‘a drastic decrease in human population size and/or political/economic/social complexity, over a considerable area, for an extended time.’ (p. 3) Diamond outlines what he considers to be the five contributing factors that result in the collapse of a society. These factors are environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors, friendly trade partners and the society’s response to its environmental problems (p. 11).

There are eight categories of human caused environmental problems that, in the worst case, have resulted in ecocide. These are: deforestation and habitat destruction, soil problems, water management problems, effects of introduced species on native species, human population growth, increased per capita impact of people, overhunting and overfishing (p. 6). In the past, a combination of many of these problems would have resulted in a societies collapse; today, there are an additional four factors that, according to Diamond, could lead to modern day collapses. These factors are the world’s finite energy resources, the ‘photosynthetic ceiling’, the impact of toxic chemicals, and ‘global warming’.

Climate change, both anthropological and natural, contributed and still contributes to a large number of environmental problems. Natural climate change, such as variations in temperature and rainfall from year to year, would have had a significant impact on a society’s survival. An extreme example was the situation of the Greenland Norse, who reached Greenland during a period of mild climate, which was good for growing hay and pasturing animals. However, a cold period known as the Little Ice age began after their arrival and lasted for 500 years. This not only made agriculture increasingly difficult but it also cut off all vital trade and communication between Greenland, Iceland and Norway, contributing to the collapse of their society. Today, states Diamond, global warming, caused by a buildup of sunlight absorbing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere such as CO2 and methane, is causing an increase in temperature. Even a small increase in temperature, could result in a decrease in agricultural productivity, as the crop growth rates decline. Additionally, ocean and sea levels would rise due to the melting of the snow and ice, which would result in the flooding of low-lying lands.

Hostile relations between neighboring societies would also have contributed to a society’s collapse. Diamond claims that the success or failure of a society in times of conflict would largely have depended on the extent of its environmental problems. For example, the military weakness of a society is the outcome of its ecological problems. Again, this factor contributed to the collapse of the Norse Greenland society; their reluctance to establish friendly relations with the Inuit inhabitants of Greenland was a disadvantage, as trade between the two peoples or the adoption of Inuit hunting techniques could have saved the Norse population in harsh times.

However, a decrease in friendly relations between neighboring societies also plays a role in the collapse of a society. Societies depend on these neighbors for trade, especially if the resources that are traded do not occur in the environment of the society. Conflict between the trade partners could lead to the discontinuation of trade, causing a deficit of resources in the society. Another problem could be that the neighboring society experiences problems of its own and suspends trade; the other society would subsequently experience severe problems. An example of this is the trade network that existed between the islands of Mangareva, Pitcairn and Henderson. Mangareva, the largest island, supplied Pitcairn with vital resources while Pitcarin supplied it with volcanic glass and fine-grained basalt to make tools. Henderson, the smallest, most hostile island also received from Mangareva, probably trading food in return. However, Mangareva discontinued trade with the two islands as it was experiencing environmental problems that caused internal unrest; Pitcairn and Henderson did not have the resources to be able to survive alone, therefore their population died out.

The final factor that contributes to the collapse of a society is the society’s response to its environmental problems; Diamond states that this is the key factor in determining a society’s fate, as a proper response could mean that the society resolves its problems. However, the response that is influenced by political, economic and social institutions and by the society’s cultural values. This is illustrated by the examples of the Easter Island society vs. the Japanese society during the Tokugawa era. Both had severe problems that had been caused by deforestation, such as the shortage of timber for making fire, building houses, transport, etc. However, the Easter Islanders never adopted any policies on controlling the rate of deforestation; the end result was, that since all their trees were gone, many wild food sources went extinct, they no longer had timber to build and make tools, the productivity of farming decreased drastically and finally, there was wide spread starvation and a subsequent population crash. In Japan, on the other hand, the Tokugawa shogunate became aware of the consequences of deforestation and therefore developed a strict system of wood management and re-growth.

Diamond states that today’s modern societies are just as likely to collapse, due to a combination of these factors, as societies in the past. Though we have the advantage of hindsight and advanced technology, we also live in very interdependent times; the weakening, or even collapse, of one society today could severely affect all the others that it is connected to. In addition, big businesses today have a much larger impact than the small farming societies of the past. If a society today fails to anticipate an oncoming problem, fails to perceive a problem that arose, fails to attempt to solve a problem once it has been perceived or the attempts to solve it are not sufficient and too late, then it is possible to make the same, seemingly obvious mistakes that have been made by societies in the past.