Un-Belizable!

A few months ago I was lucky enough to travel down to the central American country of Belize. Now I don't know about you but I didn't know much about Belize, I knew that a lot of it was covered in dense jungle, but to be honest that was about it.

My Belizean adventure started in the small village of Crooked Tree. This Creole village lies on the Crooked Tree Lagoon, and I stayed in a beautiful lodge on the edge of this lagoon. It's owned by an ex-British Army winch man, who by the looks of him could tell some tall tales.

Staying at the Crooked Tree Lodge I learnt that Belize is well known to ornithologists due to the vast diversity of migratory birds here. As you can probably tell from the above picture my visit coincided with the end of the dry season, which happens to be the ideal time for bird watching. 

Not really my bag but each to their own.

The next day I took a boat down one of the many rivers that snake through the dense jungles of this country. My destination: Lamanai. Translated Lamanai means "submerged crocodile", it's a Mesoamerican archeological site, and was once a considerably sized city of the Maya civilisation, located in the Orange Walk District. 

The temples in this area are in very good condition, it's hard to believe that they've stood there for around 3000 years. Nestled in the jungle between the dense foliage of the trees, the temples seem to have been abandoned by time itself. It's hard to imagine how these vast complexes hidden away here were constructed by hand all those years ago. 

Listening to the guide explain Mayan culture and traditions I heard something completely unexpected. The guide stated that climate change was responsible for the decimation of one of the greatest and most advanced ancient civilisations the world has ever seen.

This statement from my guide left me quite puzzled, the first combustion engine to be powered by petrol wasn't developed until 1859, the term "electricity" wasn't coined until the 1600's, and I doubt there were any coal fired power stations before this date, so what brought about this climate change.

When we think about climate change we instantly think about burning fossil fuels, but this isn't the only means of planetary temperature fluctuations. Rises in global temperature can happen naturally and in cycles, we've all heard of "El Nino", which is actually a rise in sea temperature but this has an effect on global weather systems. 

So was it a natural phenomenon that ended the Mayan reign?

At around 800 A.D the Mayan civilisation was at it's peak, they had spread from Mexico's Yucatan peninsula to Honduras. Then in an instant a society of some 15 million was wiped out almost over night. Cities were deserted, trade routes abandoned and pyramids were left to the ravages of time.

The cause, drought.

Due to a global cycle of increased temperatures and less annual rainfall over a couple of centuries, war became more frequent, and people left population centres. The magnificent cities built by the triumphant Mayans strained resources, and agriculture production became crucial to feed the growing numbers. So as the rains failed to materialise, harvests shrank, and the Mayans were brought to their knees. 

But the story isn't quite that simple.

Were the Mayans a victim of their own success, and are there any lessons to be learnt from the demise of this great society?

Looking deeper into the story of Mayan rise and fall, you stumble across a contributing factor which simply can't be ignored. Research suggests the Mayans may well have exacerbated the natural drought cycle they were caught in through deforestation. In order to feed the growing populations of their opulent cities, jungle canopy was felled to make room for crops. 

Switching from jungle to corn accounted for 60% of the drying as corn reduces the amount of water transferred to the atmosphere for rain. This reconfiguration of the landscape may have also lead to soil degradation. 

City states which were now dealing with immense environmental challenges were left weakened, the ruling elite which made up a very small proportion of the population were no longer capable of delivering what was expected of them, and so conflict increased. 

Anyone getting that feeling of deja vu?

All of these things I've described happened thousands of years ago, yet climate change, deforestation, competition for natural resources, desertification, and conflict are all very prevalent today. 

Since the 1970's droughts have become longer and more extreme worldwide, especially in the tropics and subtropics. We've all seen the hose pipe bans back home which seem to be an annual event of late. We've all seen the food riots on TV from China to Latin America, and these are set to become the norm.

Is it possible that like the ancient Mayans we are caught up in a cycle of naturally occurring global temperature fluctauations?

Yes I'm sure it's possible.

Is it also possible that like the ancient Mayans, we are simple stoking the fires of climate change by increasing our dependance on fossil fuels, and in turn increasing the generation of the green house gas carbon dioxide?

Yes I'm sure it's possible.

Would it be better to stop spending money on trying to combat global warming, and start spending money on trying to be better prepared for what is to come?


The last question I don't have the answer for, but someone wiser and more powerful than me had better decide, and decide soon!