Facebook Twitter Linkedin

  • Home
  • News Center
    • Latest News
    • Events
  • Publications
  • Education
    • Education Home
    • Calculation Examples
    • Online Historical Database of Civil Infrastructure
  • Networking
  • Jobs
  • Software
  • Maps
  • Advertising Services
  • Home
  • News Center
  • Latest News
  • News on Research / Academia
  • Poor water management likely led to the Ancient Maya collapse

Poor water management likely led to the Ancient Maya collapse

Written by  TheCivilEngineer.org
Published in News on Research / Academia
Poor water management likely led to the Ancient Maya collapse
21
September

Scientists’ model calculations in TU Wien may have found a (new) explanation

The reasons why the advanced Mayan civilization rapidly went into decline at the end of the 9th century may always remain under doubt: war, epidemics, deforestation, adaptation to climate change could all have played their part. Poor water management and an increasing population should also be added to the list, according to a new research. Scientists from TU Wien, using a mathematical model, came to the conclusion that the water reservoirs built by the Mayans for drought periods may have actually made their society more vulnerable to major catastrophes. That’s because in case they run dry, the drought impact could be even more severe for the population. The study was published in Water Resources Research.

Socio-hydrology is a field that aims, via mathematical interrelationships (for example between food availability and birth rate) to understand how water supply and management systems affect populations. ‘Water influences society, and society influences water’, says Linda Kuil, PhD student at TU Wien and member of the research team. ‘The water supply determines how much food is available, so in turn affects the growth of the population. Conversely, population increases may interfere with the natural water cycle through the construction of reservoirs, for example. It's well-known that the Mayans built water reservoirs in preparation for dry spells’, she continues. ‘With our model, we can now analyze the effects of the Mayans' water engineering on their society. It is also possible to simulate scenarios with and without water reservoirs and compare the consequences of such decisions.’

The research team explored the hypothesis that modest drought periods played a major role in the society's collapse. The simulations showed that a modest reduction in rainfall may lead to an 80% population collapse. Population density and crop sensitivity to droughts, however, may play an equally important role. It seems that the water reservoirs provided a relief during short periods of droughts and ensured the population’s growth. However, during prolonged dry spells, the population is vulnerable in case the water management behavior remains the same, and the water demand per person does not decrease. If another drought occurs, it could have far more dramatic consequences compared to a society without reservoirs. ‘When it comes to scarce resources, the simplest solutions might turn out to be superficial and not always the best ones’, Linda Kuil believes. ‘You have to change people's behavior, reassess society's dependency on this resource and reduce consumption—otherwise society may in fact be more vulnerable to catastrophes rather than safer, despite clever technical solutions.’

The findings are very important for our days as well, and the sustainable use of resources should always be a priority in order to prevent being exposed to similar phenomenon.

Source: Phys. Org

 

More in this category: « Researchers have developed a new and efficient method of retrieving gold from e-waste First-ever aerial survey of the ‘Great Pacific garbage patch’ shows the problem is worse than we thought »
Read 1083 times Last modified on Wednesday, 21 September 2016 08:19
  • Social sharing:
  • Add to Facebook
  • Add to Delicious
  • Digg this
  • Add to StumbleUpon
  • Add to Technorati
  • Add to Reddit
  • Add to MySpace
  • Like this? Tweet it to your followers!
Tagged under
  • Environmental Engineer
  • water management
  • Sustainability
  • sustainable use of resources
  • Maya

Latest from TheCivilEngineer.org

  • Robotic vehicles to fix broken satellites
  • New technique to carry freight through underground tunnels
  • Smart buildings potential and limitations
  • Smart technology in road infrastructure
  • Calculation example - Resections

Related items

  • A Chinese tidal energy project qualifies as ‘world record’
  • These shoes are not just made for walking, but from discarded plastic bottles too!
  • The inspection of solar farms with drones opens a new market for small unmanned aerial systems
  • UK pilots Europe’s first bioenergy carbon capture storage (BECCS) project
  • A test project to improve detection of plastic pollution on the sea surface, using drones and satellite imagery technology
back to top
Place your ad here - Reach throusands of Proffesionals!

Search News

Filter By Category

More News On

bridge China Climate Change Earthquake Environmental Engineer Landslide Landslides Newsletter Structural engineer USA

Facebook Twitter Youtube Linkedin

Sign up for our newsletters

Our Resources

Contribute

Services

Advertising Kit 2018

Contact Us

Copyright © 2002-2019 Elxis s.a.
Powered by ARGO-E LLC. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer - Copyrights & Permissions - Cookies

TheCivilEngineer.org uses third party cookies to improve our website and your experience when using it.

To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them visit our Cookies page. Learn more

I understand
Latest News