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This powerpoint as part of my work during Shanghai Roots and Shoots employment to promote environmental awareness. It is based on the Jared Diamond's talk at Princeton University in January 2003. Do contact me if you wish to have the ppt version to do some editing for your own use.
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上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Why Bother?Why Bother?
Marcus Tay Guan Hock a cus ay Gua ocRoots & Shoots Eco office Project Coordinator
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
There is No Problem
Some people don’t believe in the environmental problems that humans are
inflicting on the planet are serious inflicting on the planet are serious enough.
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
There is No Problem
We don’t think that there is an urgency to change our current lifestyle.
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
2 Reasons Why There is No 2 Reasons Why There is No Crisis
• Great Civilization with amazing advances
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
2 Reasons Why There is No 2 Reasons Why There is No Crisis
• 1 person small• 1 Earth
full of resources
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Easter as eIsland StoryStory
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Easter Island in 1772
• On Easter Sunday, April 5, 1722, • Dutch sea captain named Jacob Roggeveen
l d d landed
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Easter Island in 1772
• 900 statues, the heaviest weighting up to 80 tons, about 6 metres tall
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Easter Island in 1772
• Barren island , no trees
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
How Did the Statues Come How Did the Statues Come About?
carved in a volcanic quarry
dragged up over the lift of the quarry
All accomplished by human All accomplished by human muscles power alone!!!
D d 13 ili d ti ll Dragged 13 miles down to the coast
raised up vertically onto platforms
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
How Did the Statues Come How Did the Statues Come About?
Only a great civilization could have done that with the technology of gythat period.
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Easter Island in 1772
Yet, islanders were toppling the statues they erected with great effort.
Why?Why?
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Easter island in AD 800
Polynesians coming from the south east asia, sometime around AD800
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Easter Island in AD800
• Tropical forest – largest palm tree species, 6 species of land birds, 37 i bi d l t 37 species sea birds – largest collection in the pacific ocean
Palm treesalbatrossbooby
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Easter Island in AD800
• They made canoes from the trees and went out to hunt porpoise and tuna.
• It was an island full of resources and pop lation co ld ha e and population could have reached 10000 at its peak
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Back to 1772
• Barren island with no trees, • No land birds left, only 1 sea bird species left • Population of 2000• Toppling statues
Wh H d?What Happened?
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
What Happened?
• As population grew, trees were chopped down for logs to make rollers to move the statues, to make the canoes for firewood etc to make the canoes, for firewood etc.
They ran out of trees!They ran out of trees!
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
No Trees?
No trees meant…
• No new statues• No canoes to go out there to
h nt po poise and t nahunt porpoise and tuna• No firewood, burn agricultural
waste waste • No cover for soil• Agriculture yields decreasedg y
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
What Shall We Eat?
• NO canoes –NO seafood
• NO land birds, 1 sea bird
HUMANS?
上海根与芽青少年活动中心Then…
Cannibalism.
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Easter Easter Island T dToday
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Easter Island and Us Today
• Great Civilization
Easter – statues
Us man on moon Us – man on moon, internet
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Easter Island and Us Today
• Full of resources
Easter tropical forest largest palm tress Easter – tropical forest – largest palm tress species.
Us – the Entire Earth
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Another Similarity: Isolation
• Easter island – 2000 miles west of Chile
1600 miles east of the nearest pacific island – 1600 miles east of the nearest pacific island
Easter Island---A Lonely Islandy
Only living planet in theOnly living planet in the solar system , 4.3 light years from the nearest star.
The Earth---A Lonely PlanetThe Earth A Lonely Planet
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Earth
Easter Island
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Easter Islanders rose and fell by themselves.What about us?
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Save the EarthSave the Earth
• “ My personal stand is this: As environmentalists, we are not trying to salvage the earth per se. We are merely buying time so that scientists and researchers can find scientists and researchers can find alternative forms of resources. … All they need is time. That’s All they need is time. That s where the environmentalists come in.”
Darren Shiau
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
JARED DIAMONDProfessor GeographyProfessor, Geography and Physiology, Department of Geography, UCLA
The above content was from “Collapse” b J d Di dby Jared Diamond
上海根与芽青少年活动中心
Other Debates
• Rats coming with Polynesians ate the seeds of the palm trees. E h l t d di • Europeans who come later – spread diseases and capture slaves
