1. Ecological Climatology: The Maya Lecture 12

2. The Maya

3. Why Did the Mayan Civilization Collapse? In his 2005 book Collapse, though, Jared Diamond put forth a different sort of theory—that a prolonged drought, exacerbated by ill-advised deforestation, forced Mayan populations to abandon their cities. Deforestation and Climate Change A severe drought, exacerbated by widespread logging, appears to have triggered the mysterious Mayan demise

4. Paleoclimate The 18 O to 16 O ratio of lake water is recorded by aquatic organisms, such as gastropods and ostracods that precipitate shells of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ). Scientists can measure the 18 O to 16 O ratio in fossil shells in sediment cores to reconstruct changes in evaporation/precipitation through time, thus inferring climate change.