Environmental problems further strain resources from "summary" of Collapse by Jared M. Diamond
Environmental problems have a way of compounding existing resource shortages. Take, for example, the case of Haiti. This Caribbean nation has long struggled with poverty, deforestation, and soil erosion. As a result, Haitians have been forced to rely heavily on wood for fuel, further accelerating the deforestation process. This, in turn, has led to a lack of arable land for agriculture, exacerbating food shortages and pushing more people into poverty. Similarly, the ancient society of the Anasazi in the American Southwest faced a similar dilemma. As their population grew, they cleared more land for agriculture, leading to soil depletion and erosion. This, combined with periods of drought, put a severe strain on their resources, ultimately contributing to their collapse. The same pattern can be seen in the case of the Vikings in Greenland. As the climate grew colder and the sea ice expanded, their trade routes were cut...
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