Collapse Video
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed- Guided Viewing Worksheet by Jared Diamond
Name: _______________________________________________________
a·grar·i·anəәˈgre(əә)rēəәn/adjective
1.of or relating to cultivated land or the cultivation of land. synonyms: agricultural, rural, rustic, pastoral, countryside, farming
1: How is our civilization now more adapted to avoid collapsing than civilizations in the past?
We can learn from our past mistakes and see what we did wrong to avoid our civilization from collapsing
WATERThe Anasazi- Chaco Canyon:
What did it look like?
The pueblos were made of adobe clay and were built into the cliff side
How did they control their water system?
They dammed runoff flows from the cliffs above
What caused the collapse of Chaco Canyon?
A fifty year drought lead the people to believe their leaders weren’t doing a good enough job to make it rain.
What did the Anasazi do that was allowed them to survive?
The Anasazi left Chaco Canyons, and retreated to temporary settlements, where the people competed for the scarce resources, increasing the tensions among one another.
What is the projection of what could happen to Phoenix, Arizona? Why?
The hoover dam has a possibility of collapsing and destroying everything as well as destroying a huge energy source for humans. This could happen because we ignored the risk of severe drought and just kept the water for energy and it ends up collapsing
What is happening to the Los Angeles River?
The LA river is becoming extremely polluted and we are not able to use the water. However, the birds that live in LA can still survive.
What is happening in the Central Valley of California? Why?
Drought and increasing competition for water is forcing farmers to destroy their forests for mulch because they need to pick and choose which crops need to be saved.
Why are some farmers selling off their water allocations? What does this mean for our agriculture?
Farmers are selling their water allocations because the price of water has become so high that they stopped growing crops. This means that they will start drilling deeper in the ground trying to find an aquifer.
What would cause the land to sink and fracture? Explain.
Overpumping the land for water will cause it sink and fracture. This is because many of the Earth’s aquifers were being sucked dry.
What happened in Bolivia in the year 2000?
Violent protests happened because their water was being privatized
What does Diamond think is the “silver lining” with our water issues?
The silver lining with the water issue is that market forces and government regulations captures people's attention on water because they are becoming charged with the amount they use.
CIVILIZATIONA single tank of gas is worth -2 YEARS - of manpower
How efficient are oil/coal fired power plants?
A spoonful of oil is worth a day of physical labor, and a single tank of gas is worth 2 yr of man power
What fueled the expanse of the Roman Empire?
Peasant labor and fertile land fueled the expansion of the Roman Empire.
What was the problem with the expansion of the Roman Empire?
The issues of this empire was that it expanded too quickly ultimately running out of places to conquer.
What are oil sands? Where are they located? How is the oil extracted (what is needed)?
Oil sands are found in rich tar and sand deposits; it is made of clay water, sand and bitumen. The oil is extracted through the separation f of bitumen toeverything else and it allows it to become oil sand,
How long before our oil reserves run out? What can we do?
We will run out of oil soon; we can try and find alternatives that is more sustainable.
Explain how a solar array works.
The solar array works when the light excited the electrons and creating energy.
What are some of the challenges of alternative energy?
Alternative energy does not provide sufficient energy to keep up with the modern lifestyle.
Which alternative energy source can take the place of fossil fuels? Why is this such a problem?
Solar energy has the ability to become an alternative of fossil fuels; this is not desirable due to the lack of net eergy compared to the fossil fuels.
RESOURCES
What does the lack of plaster on later walls indicate happened to the Mayan Population?
The Mayan people used wood to create plaster on the the walls; lack of plaster suggests that there were insufficient amount of wood. It suggests that the population cut back on the use of it due to exploitation and over harvesting of the wood.
What are some impacts of deforestation? How does this affect the Mayans?
What is going on in Northwest China? Explain the causes.
Top soil is swept up by fierce winds, causing mega dust storms. Over razing and intensive agriculture caused the soil to become loose and eroded
How much of our usable farmland are we currently using?
90%
What is modern agriculture doing to our lands?
Chemicals and pesticides have been pumped into the soil which is reducing our fertile top soil
What does Jared Diamond say we should do to reduce our agricultural impact in the grocery store?
Purchase locally grown food to reduce the transport cost. Also purchase more organically grown products that are grown with little pesticide as possible.
CLIMATE CHANGEWhat are the projections for sea level rise in the next century?
Melting polar ice sheets, extreme wheather, and an increase of five degree of glodal temperature, causing sea levels to rise 3 to 10 feet
Why are humans so hesitant about doing anything about climate change?
The effects of climate change are complicated on a large scale and are often underestimated.
What does excess Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere do to our oceans?
The ocean becomes highly acidic, poisoning coral reefs and marine life.
What has been locked under the Permafrost?
Ancient carbon
How many more times stronger is Methane than Carbon Dioxide gas?
30 times more potent
What is the current cost of climate change?
Estimated in the trillions of dollars
What is the idea of “Boom and Bust”?
The idea of “Boom and Bust” is that when this is a chance to make short term income that ends up not working out.
What happened to the Roman Empire?
Rome’s economy was fantastic that gave birth to a middle class. Then their economy begins to collapse due to the barbarians.
How does our current situation mirror the Roman Empire?
We are starting to use our resources just to keep our status quo stable.
Summarize what Jared Diamond says will be the downfall of our civilization if we do not act or change things. What are your thoughts?
Jared Diamond enlightens the viewers that the human population will collapse much like how other empires collapsed due to the insufficient resources that pose challenges. The amount of resources will not be enough to satisfy the big populations and the needs of all the people on the planet especially if said resources are taken advantaged of and carelessly used. He suggests that we are on the path of self destruction much like our predecessors; throughout human history, we have always caused our own demise. The human population has always self destructed due to greed and insatiety. It appears that in the long run, history is repeating itself, only we have not learned our lesson.
Name: _______________________________________________________
a·grar·i·anəәˈgre(əә)rēəәn/adjective
1.of or relating to cultivated land or the cultivation of land. synonyms: agricultural, rural, rustic, pastoral, countryside, farming
1: How is our civilization now more adapted to avoid collapsing than civilizations in the past?
We can learn from our past mistakes and see what we did wrong to avoid our civilization from collapsing
WATERThe Anasazi- Chaco Canyon:
What did it look like?
The pueblos were made of adobe clay and were built into the cliff side
How did they control their water system?
They dammed runoff flows from the cliffs above
What caused the collapse of Chaco Canyon?
A fifty year drought lead the people to believe their leaders weren’t doing a good enough job to make it rain.
What did the Anasazi do that was allowed them to survive?
The Anasazi left Chaco Canyons, and retreated to temporary settlements, where the people competed for the scarce resources, increasing the tensions among one another.
What is the projection of what could happen to Phoenix, Arizona? Why?
The hoover dam has a possibility of collapsing and destroying everything as well as destroying a huge energy source for humans. This could happen because we ignored the risk of severe drought and just kept the water for energy and it ends up collapsing
What is happening to the Los Angeles River?
The LA river is becoming extremely polluted and we are not able to use the water. However, the birds that live in LA can still survive.
What is happening in the Central Valley of California? Why?
Drought and increasing competition for water is forcing farmers to destroy their forests for mulch because they need to pick and choose which crops need to be saved.
Why are some farmers selling off their water allocations? What does this mean for our agriculture?
Farmers are selling their water allocations because the price of water has become so high that they stopped growing crops. This means that they will start drilling deeper in the ground trying to find an aquifer.
What would cause the land to sink and fracture? Explain.
Overpumping the land for water will cause it sink and fracture. This is because many of the Earth’s aquifers were being sucked dry.
What happened in Bolivia in the year 2000?
Violent protests happened because their water was being privatized
What does Diamond think is the “silver lining” with our water issues?
The silver lining with the water issue is that market forces and government regulations captures people's attention on water because they are becoming charged with the amount they use.
CIVILIZATIONA single tank of gas is worth -2 YEARS - of manpower
How efficient are oil/coal fired power plants?
A spoonful of oil is worth a day of physical labor, and a single tank of gas is worth 2 yr of man power
What fueled the expanse of the Roman Empire?
Peasant labor and fertile land fueled the expansion of the Roman Empire.
What was the problem with the expansion of the Roman Empire?
The issues of this empire was that it expanded too quickly ultimately running out of places to conquer.
What are oil sands? Where are they located? How is the oil extracted (what is needed)?
Oil sands are found in rich tar and sand deposits; it is made of clay water, sand and bitumen. The oil is extracted through the separation f of bitumen toeverything else and it allows it to become oil sand,
How long before our oil reserves run out? What can we do?
We will run out of oil soon; we can try and find alternatives that is more sustainable.
Explain how a solar array works.
The solar array works when the light excited the electrons and creating energy.
What are some of the challenges of alternative energy?
Alternative energy does not provide sufficient energy to keep up with the modern lifestyle.
Which alternative energy source can take the place of fossil fuels? Why is this such a problem?
Solar energy has the ability to become an alternative of fossil fuels; this is not desirable due to the lack of net eergy compared to the fossil fuels.
RESOURCES
What does the lack of plaster on later walls indicate happened to the Mayan Population?
The Mayan people used wood to create plaster on the the walls; lack of plaster suggests that there were insufficient amount of wood. It suggests that the population cut back on the use of it due to exploitation and over harvesting of the wood.
What are some impacts of deforestation? How does this affect the Mayans?
What is going on in Northwest China? Explain the causes.
Top soil is swept up by fierce winds, causing mega dust storms. Over razing and intensive agriculture caused the soil to become loose and eroded
How much of our usable farmland are we currently using?
90%
What is modern agriculture doing to our lands?
Chemicals and pesticides have been pumped into the soil which is reducing our fertile top soil
What does Jared Diamond say we should do to reduce our agricultural impact in the grocery store?
Purchase locally grown food to reduce the transport cost. Also purchase more organically grown products that are grown with little pesticide as possible.
CLIMATE CHANGEWhat are the projections for sea level rise in the next century?
Melting polar ice sheets, extreme wheather, and an increase of five degree of glodal temperature, causing sea levels to rise 3 to 10 feet
Why are humans so hesitant about doing anything about climate change?
The effects of climate change are complicated on a large scale and are often underestimated.
What does excess Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere do to our oceans?
The ocean becomes highly acidic, poisoning coral reefs and marine life.
What has been locked under the Permafrost?
Ancient carbon
How many more times stronger is Methane than Carbon Dioxide gas?
30 times more potent
What is the current cost of climate change?
Estimated in the trillions of dollars
What is the idea of “Boom and Bust”?
The idea of “Boom and Bust” is that when this is a chance to make short term income that ends up not working out.
What happened to the Roman Empire?
Rome’s economy was fantastic that gave birth to a middle class. Then their economy begins to collapse due to the barbarians.
How does our current situation mirror the Roman Empire?
We are starting to use our resources just to keep our status quo stable.
Summarize what Jared Diamond says will be the downfall of our civilization if we do not act or change things. What are your thoughts?
Jared Diamond enlightens the viewers that the human population will collapse much like how other empires collapsed due to the insufficient resources that pose challenges. The amount of resources will not be enough to satisfy the big populations and the needs of all the people on the planet especially if said resources are taken advantaged of and carelessly used. He suggests that we are on the path of self destruction much like our predecessors; throughout human history, we have always caused our own demise. The human population has always self destructed due to greed and insatiety. It appears that in the long run, history is repeating itself, only we have not learned our lesson.