The collapse of the Mayan civilization was likely due to a relatively mild drought, much like the drier conditions expected in the coming years because of climate change, scientists said on Thursday. Academics have long believed that a major drought caused severe dry conditions that killed off the ancient culture known for its mastery of language, math and astronomy.
However, researchers from the Yucatan Center for Scientific Research in Mexico and the University of Southampton in Britain said their analysis showed the drought only caused reductions of between 25 and 40 percent less annual rain.
The smaller amounts of rain meant that open water sources in pools and lakes evaporated faster than could be replaced by more precipitation, the study in the journal Science said.
“The data suggest that the main cause was a decrease in summer storm activity,” co-author Eelco Rohling of the University of Southampton said.
The study is the first of its kind to attempt to assess exactly how much rainfall decreased between 800 and 950 AD, when Mayan civilization went into decline, and bases its modeling data on records of past rainfall changes from stalagmites and shallow lakes.
The analysis showed that -modest dry spells could have sparked major water shortages in an area with no rivers, and no source of water other than rain.
“Summer was the main season for cultivation and replenishment of Mayan freshwater storage systems and there are no rivers in the Yucatan lowlands,” Rohling added. “Societal disruptions and abandonment of cities are likely consequences of critical water shortages, especially because there seems to have been a rapid repetition of multi-year droughts.”
International experts have predicted that similar dry spells in the Yucatan region are on the way because of climate change.
While modern societies are expected to be better equipped to handle drought, risks remain, said lead author Martin Medina-Elizalde, of the Yucatan Center for Scientific Research in Mexico.
“Our results show rather modest rainfall reductions between times when the classic Maya civilization flourished and its collapse — between 800 and 950 AD. These reductions amount to only 25 to 40 percent in annual rainfall,” he said. “What seems like a minor reduction in water availability may lead to important, long--lasting problems. This problem is not unique to the Yucatan Peninsula, but applies to all regions in similar settings where evaporation is high.”
By 2027, Denmark would relocate its foreign convicts to a prison in Kosovo under a 200-million-euro (US$228.6 million) agreement that has raised concerns among non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and residents, but which could serve as a model for the rest of the EU. The agreement, reached in 2022 and ratified by Kosovar lawmakers last year, provides for the reception of up to 300 foreign prisoners sentenced in Denmark. They must not have been convicted of terrorism or war crimes, or have a mental condition or terminal disease. Once their sentence is completed in Kosovan, they would be deported to their home country. In
Brazil, the world’s largest Roman Catholic country, saw its Catholic population decline further in 2022, while evangelical Christians and those with no religion continued to rise, census data released on Friday by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) showed. The census indicated that Brazil had 100.2 million Roman Catholics in 2022, accounting for 56.7 percent of the population, down from 65.1 percent or 105.4 million recorded in the 2010 census. Meanwhile, the share of evangelical Christians rose to 26.9 percent last year, up from 21.6 percent in 2010, adding 12 million followers to reach 47.4 million — the highest figure
LOST CONTACT: The mission carried payloads from Japan, the US and Taiwan’s National Central University, including a deep space radiation probe, ispace said Japanese company ispace said its uncrewed moon lander likely crashed onto the moon’s surface during its lunar touchdown attempt yesterday, marking another failure two years after its unsuccessful inaugural mission. Tokyo-based ispace had hoped to join US firms Intuitive Machines and Firefly Aerospace as companies that have accomplished commercial landings amid a global race for the moon, which includes state-run missions from China and India. A successful mission would have made ispace the first company outside the US to achieve a moon landing. Resilience, ispace’s second lunar lander, could not decelerate fast enough as it approached the moon, and the company has
‘THE RED LINE’: Colombian President Gustavo Petro promised a thorough probe into the attack on the senator, who had announced his presidential bid in March Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, a possible candidate in the country’s presidential election next year, was shot and wounded at a campaign rally in Bogota on Saturday, authorities said. His conservative Democratic Center party released a statement calling it “an unacceptable act of violence.” The attack took place in a park in the Fontibon neighborhood when armed assailants shot him from behind, said the right-wing Democratic Center, which was the party of former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe. The men are not related. Images circulating on social media showed Uribe Turbay, 39, covered in blood being held by several people. The Santa Fe Foundation
RSS