Book Review

Introduction

In Part 3 of A New Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations, Clive Ponting tells us that “Extensive deforestation has been a problem for a number of societies throughout history. Wood is the one readily available resource for heating, cooking and construction.” “The effects of the steady and continual cutting down of tress can be seen at their clearest in the Mediterranean region.” “It is estimated that no more than 10% of the original forests that once stretched from Morocco to Afghanistan even as late as 2000 BCE still exist.” “In Greece the first signs of large-scale destruction began to appear about 650 BCE as the population rose and settlements expanded. The root of the problem was overgrazing on the 80% of the land that was unsuitable for cultivation.” “The hills of Attica were stripped bare within a couple of generations and by 590 in Athens the great reformer of the constitution, Solon, was arguing that cultivation on steep slopes should be banned because of the soil being lost.” “A few decades later Peisistratus introduced a bounty for farmers to plant olives, the only tree that would grow on badly eroded land because it had roots strong enough to penetrate the underlying limestone rock. The most graphic description of the effects of deforestation and soil erosion was left by Plato in his Critias” “The development of settled societies in the Americas produced the same sequence as in Eurasia – the clearance of land for agriculture, deforestation and soil erosion.” “An intensive cultivation system was the foundation for all the achievements of the Maya. However, when too much was demanded of it, it could not withstand the strain. The soils in tropical forests are easily eroded once the tree cover is removed.” “The most striking example of a society establishing a sustainable balance between the natural environment and its demand for food is Egypt.” “The struggle to provide enough food was to be one of the central features of nearly all the rest of human history. It remains acute for the majority of people in the world.”

 

A NEW GREEN HISTORY OF THE WORLD

THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE COLLAPSE OF GREAT CIVILISATIONS

CLIVE PONTING

VINTAGE BOOKS              2007

PART 1II

 

Chapter 5: Destruction and Survival (Cont)

The Indus valley

• Many of the same forces that brought about the collapse of the first settled societies in Mesopotamia seem to have been at work in the Indus valley too, although it is not possible to identify trends in such detail because the script used by the inhabitants has not been deciphered.

 

Deforestation

• Extensive deforestation has been a problem for a number of societies throughout history. Wood is the one readily available resource for heating, cooking and construction.
• In China the development of agriculture and the rise of the first settled societies had been based on the cultivation of millet on the easily worked loess soils that was easily eroded once the natural grass cover had been removed to make way for fields of millet.
• Very rapidly huge valleys and canyons developed as the soil was blown away by the wind or washed away by the rain.
• By about 200 years ago, nearly all the original forests of China had been cleared, causing the often disastrous flooding of the Yellow river.
• The same sequence has been seen in Japan and the great medieval Christian kingdom of Ethiopia.
• The effects of the steady and continual cutting down of tress can be seen at their clearest in the Mediterranean region. Visitors regard the landscape of olive trees, vines, low bushes and strongly scented herbs as one of the attractions of the region, but it is the result of massive environmental degradation brought about not by the creation of artificial systems such as irrigation but by the relentless pressure of long-term settlement and growing population.
• It is estimated that no more than 10% of the original forests that once stretched from Morocco to Afghanistan even as late as 2000 BCE still exist.
• One of the first areas to suffer was the hills of Lebanon and Syria. The cedars of Lebanon became famous for their height and straightness and prized as building materials. There are now just 4 small groves of cedars left, maintained as a symbol of former glory.
• In Greece the first signs of large-scale destruction began to appear about 650 BCE as the population rose and settlements expanded. The root of the problem was overgrazing on the 80% of the land that was unsuitable for cultivation.
• The hills of Attica were stripped bare within a couple of generations and by 590 in Athens the great reformer of the constitution, Solon, was arguing that cultivation on steep slopes should be banned because of the soil being lost.
• A few decades later Peisistratus introduced a bounty for farmers to plant olives, the only tree that would grow on badly eroded land because it had roots strong enough to penetrate the underlying limestone rock. The most graphic description of the effects of deforestation and soil erosion was left by Plato in his Critias.
• The same problems can be identified in Italy a few centuries later as population rose and Rome grew. There is no doubt that environmental degradation was an important factor and declining food surplus needed to feed both the population of Rome and large standing armies was one of the causes of internal weakness in the empire.
• The same trends can be identified in Spain where overgrazing by the huge flocks of sheep permanently degraded the environment.

 

The decline and fall of the Maya

• The development of settled societies in the Americas produced the same sequence as in Eurasia – the clearance of land for agriculture, deforestation and soil erosion.
• The clearest case of environmental collapse leading to the demise of a society comes from the Maya – one of the most extraordinary societies found anywhere in the world.
• Mayan society was a remarkable achievement in that it developed in dense lowland tropical jungle. The considerable intellectual achievements of the Maya were reflected in their astronomy, and in their highly complex and extremely accurate calendar, based on a 52-year cycle.
• For a couple of centuries after 400 there was a strong influence from the city of Teotihuacan in central Mexico but when that declined after 600 the Maya entered their most spectacular period.
• Huge pyramids, often aligned towards significant astronomical points, were built at all the centres and large numbers of stelae erected. Then within a few decades after 800, the whole society began to disintegrate, population levels fell abruptly and the cities were soon covered by the encroaching jungle.
• An intensive cultivation system was the foundation for all the achievements of the Maya. However, when too much was demanded of it, it could not withstand the strain. The soils in tropical forests are easily eroded once the tree cover is removed.

 

The Nile Valley

• The most striking example of a society establishing a sustainable balance between the natural environment and its demand for food is Egypt.
• For 5000 years the Egyptians were able to exploit the annual flood of the river, until the use of new technology in the 19^th century began to undermine the system.
• They exploited a natural process, with only minimal human interference, and only then at a low technological level. In the 18^th century CE crop yields were about twice as high as in France.
• The long-term stability of the Egyptian agricultural system was maintained as long as there were only limited modifications to the natural flood regime.
• In the 1840s the first artificial irrigation systems were built to provide more irrigated land to grow extra crops, such as cotton, for sale in Europe.
• Within decades permanent irrigation had produced widespread salinisation and waterlogging in the newly cultivated areas.
• Many of the earliest societies were unable to strike a balance between the need for food for the mass of the population and the ability of their environment to sustain intensive agriculture over a long period.
• The demands of an increasingly complex society began to overstretch the capacity of the agricultural base of the society. Side effects of what at first appeared to be solutions became problems.
• The result was falling food production and increasing difficulty in supporting a large number of non-producers and the dramatic collapse of an entire society.
• The struggle to provide enough food was to be one of the central features of nearly all the rest of human history. It remains acute for the majority of people in the world.

 

Chapter 6: The Long Struggle